Again
by da90schic
Summary: James and Lily broke up after Hogwarts was over after a few months of dating. They're both training to become Aurors in London and are living in the same apartment building next door to each other. Tempation and hormones run high. COMPLETED!
1. Would You Be My Neighbor?

Who's seen Saved by the Bell: The College Years Raises hand. Okay think that (sorta) but with Lily, James, Sirius and some Remus but he's not becoming an Auror so he's not in every chapter.  
  
Okay, this is my first Lily and James fanfiction. It takes place the fall after their last year of Hogwarts. Lily, James, and Sirius are all studying to become Aurors and the ministry is set up "dorms" you can say. Think wizard college. Oh and Lily broke up with James after graduation because "things just weren't going to work out and she just wanted to be 'friends.'" Oh and I know they all graduated in the 70s or something but lets just pretend its present day cuz I can have more fun with the story (  
  
Enjoy!  
  
hey  
  
don't write yourself off yet  
  
it's only in your head you feel left out or looked down on  
  
just try your best  
  
try everything you can  
  
and don't you worry what they tell themselves when you're away hey you know they're all the same  
  
you know you're doing better on your own so don't buy in  
  
live right now  
  
just be yourself  
  
it doesn't matter if that's good enough for someone else it just takes some time  
  
little girl, you're in the middle of the ride  
  
everything everything will be just fine  
  
everything everything will be all right do your best  
  
do everything you can  
  
don't you worry what their bitter hearts are going to say Jimmy Eat World "The Middle"  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Lily Evans pulled her letter from the ministry out of her pocket once more. The address on her paper said Braxton Building, Room 342. She looked up at the brick building in front of her and nodded. This was the place she'd be living in for the next three years. She climbed the cement stairs and walked into the building. All over she could hear chatting and people enjoying herself. She climbed three flights of stairs and found room 342 fairly quickly and walked in. "Hello?" Asked the red head wearily. She looked around the room and didn't see anyone there. All of a sudden a girl burst out of a nearby room laughing with some guy. The girl stopped laughing abruptly and looked at Lily. There was only one word to describe the girl, gorgeous. She had glimmering blue eyes and long, angled, blonde hair. She was wearing a halter top with the British flag on it and tight red leather pants. The girl was nothing short of a supermodel.  
  
"Who are you?" Questioned the girl in a snobbish way.  
  
"I'm Lily Evans. I got a letter from the ministry saying this is where I'm living as I train to become an Auror." Said Lily.  
  
"Oh. Lily is it?" Lily nodded. "I'm Debbie I guess I'm your roommate. Here are my rooms: Don't go in my room, don't eat my food, and don't talk to the guys I bring around here. Oh and don't use my condoms, that is if you'll have a use for them."  
  
"Er, okay." Said Lily.  
  
"That's a good girl." Said Debbie walking out of the room with the guy's hand griped tight on her butt. Lily rolled her eyes. She knew that living with Debbie was not going to be easy. Besides that she already had loud neighbors. She could hear two men laughing next door. Lily growled and walked over to the wall from where the noise was coming from.  
  
"Hey, I can hear you over here. Can you please keep it down?" Asked Lily.  
  
"No." Said one of the men briskly. Lily sighed.  
  
"Please."  
  
"If it means that much to you then fine." Said the other voice. The two voices seemed very familiar but Lily quickly dismissed it from her mind. The voices quieted down and Lily relaxed. She looked around at her already furnished apartment. All of the furniture was modern and a bit too tacky for her taste. She sighed and sat on the couch and put her head in her hands.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Prongs this is gonna be awesome!" Shouted Sirius Black. "We *finally* have our own place! Isn't it great James?" Sirius looked down at his friend who was sitting on the couch staring at the floor. "James? James-y boy are you alright?" James looked up suddenly and nodded.  
  
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine." He said quickly. He ran a frustrated hand through his messy, unkempt black hair and sighed.  
  
"James, I've known you for seven years and I don't think I've ever seen you so depressed. What's wrong?"  
  
"Lily." Sirius sighed and sat down next to his friend.  
  
"Oh god not this again."  
  
"I miss her."  
  
"Prongs, it's been two months! Find someone else! Move on already."  
  
"I've tried. Its just, we broke up on the train ride home and that's like the last memory I have of her: Her breaking up with me, kissing me one last time, then walking off with her dad as my heart crushed in two."  
  
"At least you got one last look at her ass." Pointed out Sirius taking a sip of his butterbeer.  
  
"That is one fine ass. Man if I can just squeeze it one last time!" James and Sirius laughed hysterically. Then they heard banging on the wall coming from the other side.  
  
"Hey, I can hear you over here. Can you please keep it down?" Asked a female voice. Sirius shook his head.  
  
"No." He replied.  
  
"Please?" Asked the girl again sounding a little desperate. James covered Sirius's mouth quickly before he said something that might upset her.  
  
"If it means that much to you then fine." He said as he moved his hand off of his friend's mouth. Sirius grinned.  
  
"Did you hear that?" He asked standing up and heading over to the wall that they shared with the mystery woman.  
  
"Hear what?" Questioned James.  
  
"It's a lady." Said Sirius sounding like the ladies man. (I'm not saying that they know about the Ladies Man skit from SNL but that's how I wanted him to say it.) James laughed.  
  
"And?"  
  
"And I think that she might be the key to help get you over Lily."  
  
"Nah." Said James.  
  
"Yes! Don't you see? She's the key! All you have to do is walk over there one day and do the neighbor thing and ask for a 'cup of sugar' if you know what I mean." Suggested Sirius with a wink. James shook his head. "Come on! What happened to the James I knew? What happened to the Prongs I knew that would do anything to hex Snivellus?" Sirius looked at James and James realized he was right.  
  
"Okay. Alright, I'll do it. The old James Potter is coming back!"  
  
"Yes!" Shouted Sirius clapping his best friend on his back. "Yes this is going to be so awesome! When are you going to do it."  
  
"Today. Right now." Stated James.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 


	2. Run Ins

OMG! I got FOUR reviews already! That's so awesome!! Omg I love you all! lol, no seriously I do. I was so surprised when I checked my mail I screamed with happiness. My friend Taiwo looked at me and was like "LOSER!" I am a loser and proud of it! Power to the dorks! hehe  
  
I don't know how fast I'm gonna be able to get chapters written cuz school is starting soon! NOOOO!! But I will most likely continue this story until the night Lily and James die.  
  
Disclaimer: No, I am not the great J.K. Rowling but if I was.*sighs* damn.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Run Ins  
  
Lily was unpacking the few things in her new bedroom. Debbie was out for the evening with her "boy toy" from earlier that day so she had her new flat all to herself. She was unpacking a box filled with old photos of her with her family and friends from Hogwarts. She picked up one in particular that made her heart jump. It was one with her and James a few days before graduation and their break up.  
  
He looked so happy she thought. His hand was wrapped around her waist and her head was resting on his shoulder. She smiled to herself put the picture on her nightstand next to one of her parents. Lily liked that picture, not because James was in it, but because she was actually having a good hair day that day with her thick red hair. She sighed and looked at the clock, it was 9:30pm and she still hadn't eaten dinner. She turned to her bed, which was covered with cloths, and grabbed a jacket and headed to the door.  
  
On her way out to the street she realized it was raining. She quickly pulled the hood of the jacket up over her head hiding her red hair. As she hurried out of the building she ran into a tall man with dark hair going into her building with another man. They exchanged quick "sorrys" then continued her way to the nearest deli.  
  
"Who was that?" Asked Sirius Black. James shrugged.  
  
"Got me. Never saw her before." Said James. "She seemed kind of familiar." Added James as he and Sirius began climbing the stairs. Sirius stopped dead in his tracks then looked at his friend.  
  
"Are we retarded?" He asked.  
  
"I'm not but you might be." Sirius looked at his friend.  
  
"Ha, ha. Nice one Prongs. We can just apperate. Why are we taking the stairs?"  
  
"Good point." And with that and two cracks they were in their own apartment. Sirius put his ear up to the wall. "Padfoot may I ask what the hell you're doing?"  
  
"I'm trying to hear if our neighbor is home." James rolled his eyes at his best friend and headed over to the fridge for something to drink.  
  
"You don't even know her and already you're trying to get in her pants."  
  
"I'm not trying to get in her pants, I'm trying to get *you* into her pants! I can get into anyone's pants that I want." Said Sirius glaring over at James.  
  
"I know that. I've seen/heard." Retorted James grinning. Sirius picked up a pillow from the couch and chucked it at him. James looked around the apartment at all of the boxes scattered aimlessly. "Don't you think we should start unpacking?"  
  
"No." Sirius laughed. James shook his head and looked into one of the boxes. He picked up a picture of him and Lily. Even though they broke up months ago, James still thought she was the most beautiful woman he'd ever laid eyes on. Sirius walked over to him and saw what he was looking at. "Prongs, put the picture of your ex-girlfriend in the fireplace because you aren't going to need it anymore." James turned to Sirius.  
  
"And why is that?" He asked diligently,  
  
"Because she's home." Sirius pointed to the wall and the two grinned.  
  
"Excellent." Said James. "Well, I'm off." He said walking to the door.  
  
"Wait! I want to meet her too." States Sirius following James. He took the glasses off of his best friend. "There. Now you don't look so dumb and I can bring them to you when you start talking to her and you can introduce me."  
  
"Padfoot, I can't see a damn thing. Everything is one big blur."  
  
"Good then that will make it more interesting." Replied Sirius as he pushed his friend out into the hallway and over to their neighbor's door. "I'm right behind you big guy. If you know what I mean." Said Sirius with a wink.  
  
"Ew, Sirius, that's gross. Don't ever say that to me again." Said James in complete disgust.  
  
"Good luck!" Shouted Sirius as he made his way back into his own apartment. James sighed. Here goes nothing.  
  
Lily apparated home shortly after buying a sandwich at the deli with her hair soaking wet from the rain. She went into the bathroom to find a brush of her own but could only find some of Debbie's. She sighed out of frustration and went into her bedroom just as she heard a knock on the door. Lily cocked an eyebrow to herself as she tan the brush through her hair. Who could be stopping by at this time? "In a minute!" She shouted. She finished brushing her hair and rushed into the living room and opened the door. A man was standing there, a man she knew.  
  
"Hi, I'm your new neighbor and I was just wondering if I could- -"  
  
"James?" Questioned Lily. James looked up at her.  
  
James couldn't believe what he was hearing. Could it really be her? He rubbed his eyes furiously and tried to make her out. All he could see was dark red hair. Yup, it was her.  
  
"L-lily?" ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ OMG THE BEST EPISODE OF SOUTH PARK IS ON!!!! THE ONE WITH BEBE'S BOOBS! Omg that is the best! "What is it with Bebe? She just seems really cool all of a sudden." Then, omg, the best Cartman line ever: "Oh, oh that's fine! Fuck you Kyle and fuck you Stan! Oh and fuck you too Tweek!.Bebe, you're still cool!" "Oh I'm sorry I can't play because I'm afraid I might trip and fall into your huge gaping vagina and be sucked in like a vacuum cleaner." LMFAO! I don't know there's something about it that makes me laugh so hard I almost piss my pants. Then the "hot-taas" Hehe, then Wendy gets a boob job.omg, I love it. Me and my ex-boyfriend always laugh our asses off at it. Yes I still talk to my ex-boyfriend and he's an awesome person! Go my ex-boyfriend! He's just like Eric Cartman! He talks like him, walks like him, and is "big boned" like him too. lol, I'm just a little hyper right now.just a tad.  
  
Reviews are deeply appreciated! Hope you like this chapter! Oh and the "I've seen/heard" thing I used is copy-writed by yours truly because I said that to my friend when he talks about how he talks about himself. I swear this will get more interesting remember red heads have tempers. 


	3. Oh No, Not You Again

Lol, the whole "right behind you thing" was a joke from Stephen Lynch's song "If I Were Gay." I felt I had to add it in. I suggest downloading that song or watching him on Comedy Central 'cuz you'll almost piss your pants like me. I'm going to eventually write a chapter based on Dashboard Confessional's awesome song "Hands Down" which is incredible. It's so sweet! I wove it just like how everyone woves melly welly.  
  
Here we are dear old friend.  
  
You and I: drunk again. The laughs have been had And the tears have been shed. Maybe the whisky's gone to my head?  
  
But if I were gay, I would give you my heart. And if I were gay You'd be my work of art And if I were gay We would swim in romance But I'm not gay So get your hand out of my pants.  
  
Its not that I don't care I do I just don't see myself in you Another time, another scene I'd be right behind you, If you know what I mean  
  
If I were gay, I'd give you my soul And if I were gay, I'd give you my whole.being If I were gay we would tare down the walls But I'm not gay So would you stop cupping my.hand.  
  
We've never hugged We've never kissed I've never been intiment With your fist You have opened brand new doors Get over here and drop your drawers.  
  
"If I Were Gay" Stephen Lynch ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Oh no, not you again  
  
"L-lily?" Asked James wearily.  
  
"James, what are you doing here?" Replied Lily sounding almost fearful.  
  
"I, er, just thought that." Lily laughed.  
  
"Where are your glasses?" Suddenly Sirius appeared in the doorway with a pair of glasses in his hands.  
  
"James! You're so forgetful, here's your glasses. Who's you're new fr- -Lily?"  
  
"Sirius? What are you guys doing here." Asked Lily happily. James grabbed his glasses from his friend and put them on. Lily looked exactly the same as she had the last time he saw her. She was still the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.  
  
"James was trying to- - " Began Sirius just as James put a hand over his mouth.  
  
"I was, er, just trying to meet our new neighbor." Said James hopping she had forgotten how to tell if he was lying or not. Lily cocked an eyebrow at them. Nope, she still remembered.  
  
"Suure. So you guys live here?" Asked Lily in an almost annoyed tone. Sirius walked into her flat and put an arm around her.  
  
"Yes Lily, and you will love it having me and Prongs over for dinner, breakfast, lunch."  
  
"Er, no. I don't think so."  
  
"Come on Lily," started James, "you know you love us." Lily looked James in the eye and laughed,  
  
"Yeah, okay." For a moment, James hoped she was going to say "You're right James, I do love you. Let's get back together and we can go back to your place and make love" and everything would go back to normal. But instead, she laughed. "So where are you training in the Ministry?"  
  
"Auror department." Said James and Sirius together. Lily shook her head and walked into her living room. James joined Sirius and entered the flat.  
  
"You've got to be kidding me." The two men looked at each other and then at Lily. "Jesus, the one time I think I've finally gotten away from you two gits, you're with me all this way in London and have to wok in the same office as me."  
  
"Wait, you want to be an Auror too?" Asked James slightly surprised. Lily nodded. The whole time they were fating she never once discussed what she was doing after Hogwarts.  
  
"Yeah, I want to do my part."  
  
"Being an Auror is dangerous Lilikins. Are you sure you want to do it? I've always seen you more as a Healer. If you're an Auror you might break a nail." States Sirius as he took a seat on Lily's couch. James looked at Sirius and then at Lily. If there was one thing he knew about Lily is that she did not take well to insults.  
  
"You know what? You're right Sirius." Said Lily calmly. James snickered. He knew she had something up her sleeve.  
  
"Of course I am." Said Sirius briskly. Lily sat down next to Sirius.  
  
"I mean, really Sirius. I'm just a weak little woman who needs a big strong man like you to take care of me." Said seductively Lily caressing Sirius's arm with her index finger. Sirius turned to Lily and grinned. He looked back at James.  
  
"Hey Prongs, I think I figured out why Lily dumped you." Lily giggled and moved her head up to his ear.  
  
"Excuse me for a moment. I'll be right back." She whispered as she went into her room for a minute. Sirius was still grinning.  
  
"Hey, since you already went out with our new neighbor, maybe I could have a go at her." Suggested Sirius. James hand went into a fist. Even though he knew his friend was joking, it still pissed him off to think of anyone else but him with Lily. Lily came back into the living room with her wand in her hand.  
  
"Perificus Totalus!" She shouted and put a full body bind on Sirius Black. James laughed as Lily looked at him. "I can't stand when guys act like they have to protect me just because I'm a woman."  
  
"It's a male instinct Lily, like peeing in the snow." Lily laughed. Oh god did he love that laugh.  
  
"Are you hungry?" She asked.  
  
"Sure, what do you have?"  
  
"Let me see." She walked over to the refrigerator and peered in. James walked up behind her and put his hands around her slim waist. Lily turned around to see a smiling James.  
  
"James, you're not my boyfriend anymore." She said in a weird sort of tone. James blushed.  
  
"Oh yeah, right. Sorry." Said James releasing her and running a nervous hand through his hair. Just then Sirius came into the kitchen.  
  
"Ha ha, nice Lily. You think you're so smart, don't you." Mocked Sirius.  
  
"No, I know I'm smart." Said Lily with an evil grin, a grin which James found irresistible. "So what are you guys doing tonight besides hanging out at my place?" James and Sirius looked at each other.  
  
"I don't know. Maybe go to club or something." Suggested Sirius as he looked at James. James nodded.  
  
"Ooh could I come with you guys?" Questioned Lily.  
  
"Sure!" Exclaimed James a little too quickly. Sirius let out a laugh.  
  
"What's so funny Sirius?" Questioned Lily once more.  
  
"Well, its just one minute you're hexing me and the next you want to come hang out with us." Stated Sirius.  
  
"I'm new here. I've never lived in London so I don't know where to go, especially in the wizarding world. Otherwise I wouldn't bother with you." Said Lily pointing a finger at Sirius. James smiled, Lily wasn't pointing any fingers at him!  
  
"So in other words, you're using me and James as your personal maps?" Interrogated Sirius. Lily smiled.  
  
"In a matter of speaking yes." Sirius smiled.  
  
"Cool!"  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Woo-hoo! I got 3 new reviews on my last chapter, it's all good! Bombshell, you're awesome! Of course I'll be writing more!! But starting Monday it will probably be slowing down. I went to freshmen orientation last night and I can already tell I'm not gonna like high school. Lol. I'm weird like that so are my friends. I don't really know where this story is going exactly so I'll be writing it on impulse. Next chapter: Clubbing, jealousy, and the first day of Auror training! 


	4. Just Friends?

Okay, my songs are gonna have more meaning to the story.hopefully  
  
I'm trying to forget that I'm addicted to you And I want it, and I need it I'm addicted to you Now it's over Can't forget what you said And I never want to do this again Heartbreaker Heartbreaker  
  
Heartbreaker  
  
Simple Plan "Addicted"  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Just Friends  
  
Ten minutes later James and Sirius were ready to go out and were waiting for Lily in her apartment. Sirius checked his watch again and sighed out of frustration.  
  
"Jesus Prongs, how the hell did you stand dating her? She takes *so* long."  
  
"I don't know." Said James as he walked over to her door and banged on it. "Hey Lily! Sirius and I are going to leave without you if you don't come right- -" Lily opened the door and James's jaw dropped. She was wearing a tight red dress with matching red heels and a black jacket. Her hair was up in a bun with tendrils shaping her face. James stood there in silence.  
  
"James?" James quickly snapped out of it.  
  
"Sorry." He replied quickly. Lily smiled.  
  
"Hey can you zip me up? I can't do it." Asked Lily as she turned her back to him and lowered her jacket so he could finish zipping up her dress.  
  
"I'd rather unzip it if you know what I mean." Whispered James. Lily turned to him annoyed.  
  
"Ha, ha. The only reason I'm asking you is because you're my friend. *Just* my friend." She stated. James sighed the nodded.  
  
"Fine." He zipped her up quickly and the two headed out into the living room. Sirius stood up.  
  
"Finally! Wow, you look good Lily." Said Sirius staring at Lily.  
  
"Thanks. So where are we going again?" Questioned Lily.  
  
"The Bunk House. It's a club just for wizards downtown." Said James. "I know the bouncer so we can get in."  
  
"James! Don't tell her that!" Shouted Sirius.  
  
"What? She's gonna find out anyway." Sirius sighed.  
  
"Fine. We should get going. Come on." The three of them exited their building and walked through the streets of London. They came to what looked like a dead end in the alley of two big building. Sirius muttered something under his breath and all of a sudden a large building appeared with a line of witches and wizards around their age. Lily's mouth dropped and she looked at Sirius.  
  
"How did you do that? It was like magic." She asked.  
  
"Well we are wizards Lily, in case you've forgotten." Snickered Sirius. James laughed along with Sirius. Lily looked at the two men and smacked Sirius on the shoulder. "Hey!" Shouted Sirius. "Come on, we have to go talk to the bouncer." The three of them made their way up to the front of the building where a very large wizard was standing there with his arms crossed in front of him. "Tyrell!" The very large man smiled and gave Sirius a huge bear hug.  
  
"Sirius, man, I haven't seen you in months! And who's this?" He asked eyeing James and Lily.  
  
"This is my best mate James and this is Lily." Lily waved at the husky man timidly.  
  
"Any friend of Sirius is a friend of mine. Come on in!" Tyrell said. And with that did a whole lotta crazy shit begin!  
  
After multiple drinks by all three of the friends, they felt it was time to hit the dance floor. The place was gigantic and filled with wizards from ages 17-26. Everyone was in their best cloths, muggle or wizard's robes, and all over one another. Lily, who had never really drank before indulged herself. A tall guy with dark brown hair came over and asked her to dance and so she did. James was reluctant at first to get up and dance, that is of course until Sirius came over with a brunette named Lynda. They danced for a good while, about 10 minutes or so and sat down at the table again with Sirius who had a woman named Christina sitting on his lap whispering silly little nothings into his ear that made both of them giggle. James shook his head and let out a chuckle. He then scanned the room out of habit then and saw a beautiful woman dancing wildly with a tall man. James eyes opened in shock. It was Lily.  
  
He got up as fast as he could and stormed over to where Lily was dancing. Sirius saw his sudden change in behavior and shushed Christina for a moment. "Prongs, where are you going?"  
  
"To knock some sense into our drunken Lily." Said James not even looking back at his best friend. Sirius shrugged and continued flirting with Christina. When James reached Lily, he noticed most of the men in the room watching her as well in awe. Jealousy grew in the pit of his stomach as he looked at t he other men's faces. He tapped Lily on the shoulder a little to forcefully because she let out an "ouch" as she turned around and faced James.  
  
"James! Yay! There you are!" She said a little too cheerfully.  
  
"Lily, what's come over you? You're not acting like the Lily I know." Stated James looking directly into her eyes. Lily squinted with fury.  
  
"What if I don't want to act like the regular Lily? Why can't I enjoy myself a little bit? Hell, you do it all the time I bet! You're not my boyfriend anymore James so just back off!" She spat. James grabbed her arm and started pulling her back to the table.  
  
"Lily, you're drunk. I don't want to see you do anything you might regret."  
  
"NO!" She screeched taking her arm back then slapping him with it before she walked back off with her guy. James put his hand up to the red spot on his face and walked back to the table. Sirius who was giggling with Christina even more furiously stood up gripping Christina's side.  
  
"Hey, what happened with Lily?" Sirius asked.  
  
"Slapped me."  
  
"Wow! What a bitch! I would never slap Sirius." Said Christina twirling her hair with her finger.  
  
"Thanks babe." Said Sirius kissing her on the cheek. Christina grinned.  
  
"Hey Prongs, I think me and Christina are going to be using the apartment tonight so maybe you can go stay at the Leaky Cauldron or something?" Suggested Sirius. James sighed. He knew it was either that or.well, he didn't want to think of what was going to happen if he did stay at the apartment.  
  
"Why don't you two just use a silencing charm?" Suggested James thinking quickly.  
  
"Sirius! You have such a smart friend! He's sorta cute too." Added Christina. Sirius nodded.  
  
"Good idea mate. Alright, let's head out."  
  
"But what about Lily?" Questioned James still worried about her.  
  
"James she's a big girl. She can take care of her self." Said Sirius.  
  
"Yeah, I guess you're right."  
  
"Come on, let's apperate."  
  
"Nah, I think I'm gonna walk. I need some fresh air."  
  
"Okay, see you tomorrow morning!"  
  
"Bye!" Shouted Christina as the two of them apperated back to the flat. James put on his jacket and headed out the door. On his way out, he passed an alley and heard to voices, one sounding strangely familiar.  
  
"Noooo." Said a female's voice. James stopped to listen.  
  
"Come on. It'll be fun."  
  
"No Jack! No.I said stop it!" James knew who the voice belonged to and rushed into the alley.  
  
"Hey! Get your hands off Lily!" He shouted to Jack, the tall man with the dark brown hair. Jack stopped and looked at James sizing him up.  
  
"Oh yeah, make me."  
  
"Stupefy!" Shouted James whipping out his wand from his pocket. Jack landed with a thud on the ground as Lily stood there still trying to take in what had just happened. James walked over to Lily and put his arm around her petite frame.  
  
"Are you okay?" Lily nodded. "Come on, I'll take you home."  
  
"Thanks James. You know.You're still pretty cute." She added.  
  
"Thanks for noticing."  
  
"I'm so glad you heard us. I don't know what I'd do without you."  
  
"Its nothing."  
  
~*~  
  
They reached Lily's flat and James shouted "lumos" and turned on all of the lights. Lily, who flirted with him all of the way home, was still drunk and hanging all over James.  
  
"There you go." Started James. "Go lay down and get some rest. We have our first training session tomorrow morning at the- -" but James never finished his sentence as his lips were met with Lily's. James resisted the urge to kiss her back just like he used to but only kissed back a little not wanting to take advantage of her while she was drunk. The kiss ended and Lily looked deep into James's eyes as for searching for something. James didn't blink. Although a little awkward at first, the kiss was amazing and full of drunk passion.  
  
"James I want you to spend the night with me." Said Lily bluntly. James blinked. Even thought they had never had sex, James was not a virgin. He resisted the urge to take her right then and there in the living room of her apartment. He so wanted to love her like he knew he could, but deep down he knew it was not the right thing to do.  
  
"I.I can't." Stuttered James trying to find the words.  
  
"You, you don't find me attractive?" Lily asked looking as if she was about to cry.  
  
"No! No you're beautiful! You're drunk Lily. You'd kill yourself knowing you lost your virginity this way. I know you too well." Lily lowered her head. He knew he was right. "Come on, I'll tuck you in."  
  
He followed Lily into her bedroom which was half unpacked and half in boxes. She laid down on the bed and pulled some of the covers over her and sighed happily.  
  
"Mmm, good night James."  
  
"Good night." Replied James kissing her lightly on the forehead as she drifted quickly to sleep. He smiled to himself. She looked so peaceful. He thought. He glanced over at her nightstand and saw a picture of the two of them together at Hogwarts. James smiled and walked back to his flat and into his room. He got out of his cloths quickly and slipped into bed just as fast wearing only his boxers. Lily still cared, he thought, she must still care. She still has the picture. And with that he drifted off into a peaceful sleep.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ LOL! Okay anyone from the south shore of Long Island where I used to live knows that the Bunk House is a huge gay club infamous for attracting the people coming over from the ferry in Cherry Grove. For all of you people from Long Island out there, preferably Suffolk County you know what I'm talking about.  
  
Thank you all my patient reviewers!! High school is awesome! I absolutely love it! Now all I need is a few of my friends from New York to come down here and I will be the happiest person in the world! Now go ahead and click the review button.come on you know you want to. 


	5. Auror Training

Wow, people actually like this story! Omg I feel loved! Hehehe. Okay, I picked this song cuz I'm listening the punk cover of this song by Lagwagon. Hehehe I love punk covers and use hehehehe too much.  
  
Makin' your way in the world today takes everything you've got.  
  
Takin' a break from all your troubles sure would help a lot. Wouldn't it be nice to get away? Sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows your name.  
  
And you're always glad you came. You wanna go where you can know. That people are all the same. You wanna go where everybody knows your name.  
  
Theme song from Cheers Hehehe, Cheers is awesome! All hail Norm! (Norm: Good afternoon everyone. Everybody: Norm!) classic  
  
This chapter is a little bit flirty. I felt it is time for the flirting to begin! Hehehe lol so yeah, there isn't going to be any real action in this fanfict just to let you know. They'll talk about what happened and there might be some scenes in there that are important to the story so be on the look out for new chapters!  
  
Enjoy! ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Auror Training  
  
Lily woke up as the sun streamed through her bedroom from her closed blinds. She blinked twice and held her head in pain. It was the worst headache she had ever had. She sat up and tried to remember what happened last night. She went out to the Bunk House with James and Sirius, and she was drinking of course, and then.that was it.  
  
Or was it?  
  
Lily searched around her room frantically to find anything that might give her a better clue of what had happened the night before. She sighed in relief. No men's clothing, no discarded underwear, nothing. She stood up and walked to the kitchen crossing her arms in front of her chest. Lily passed Debbie's room and noticed the door was open. She peeked in quickly and realized that there was no one in there. Debbie obviously spent the night somewhere else. Well, at least she won't be here thought Lily. Lily continued to the kitchen and shook her head in disgust then, as she was opening a cabinet to search for some food, it hit her. She remembered something about last night. James.  
  
Quickly Lily rushed out of her apartment and over the next door and banged on it hard continually until a very sleepy and messy looking James Potter opened the door wearing nothing but a pair of loose fitting boxers. "What the hell happened last night?" Demanded Lily. James sighed in exhaustion.  
  
"Well good morning to you too." Said James walking back into his living room and collapsing on the couch. Lily followed him into the apartment and stood in front of him giving him a stern look.  
  
"James, I don't remember anything that happened last night. All I remember is you being in my apartment. James, are you paying attention to what I'm saying?" Shouted Lily. James placed both of his hands on his head.  
  
"Ah! Stop shouting Lily. Jesus Christ! I've got the worst fucking hangover ever." He stated ruffling up his hair.  
  
"Well that's what you get for drinking." Retorted Lily crossing her arms over her chest once more.  
  
"Um, Lily, may I remind you that you were drinking just as much as I was, if not more?" Lily almost let a smile spread across her face but quickly stopped it and gave James a look of stone. "How is it that you don't have a hangover?" He asked.  
  
"I have one but I want to know what happened last night. Now please James, tell me." James sighed and looked into Lily's eyes.  
  
"We went to the Bunk House with Sirius and we were drinking." Started James.  
  
"I know that much." Said Lily.  
  
"Patience Lily. Okay so then you met up with this tall guy. I think his name was Jake or Jack or something like that. Anyways, you two started dancing and when I thought things were getting too *serious* between you two I tried to stop it but you pushed me away. A little later on I started my way home and I caught that guy trying to do stuff to you so I knocked him out for you. Then when I brought you back to your place you started kissing me and asked me to spend the night with you." James cringed. He knew that Lily was going to explode making his hangover ten times worse than he could have ever imagined.  
  
"I WHAT?" Screamed Lily madly. Her eyes were wide open. She was already in shock to hear that she was almost raped by some guy she hooked up with at a club but to hear that she asked James to.ugh she didn't even want to think about it. Suddenly, Sirius entered the living room from his bedroom and like James, wearing nothing but a pair of boxer shorts.  
  
"What the hell is going on out here Prongs? I was just in the bedroom with Christina about to have another go at.Ooh, Lily what are you doing here? And in the outfit you where wearing last night. Did Jamsie get lucky?" Questioned Sirius rudely.  
  
"That's exactly what I want to know James." Said Lily drawing her attention back to the raven-haired man sitting in front of her. Sirius cocked an eyebrow.  
  
"Whoa I was only joking." Stated Sirius seriously looking at James. (No pun intended)  
  
"Nothing happened okay! I was the good guy! Jesus Christ Lily, do you think that I'd actually do something to you while your smashed!? I'm not Sirius!"  
  
"Hey!" Interjected Sirius. "I did nothing of the sort! It was a mutual thing last night."  
  
"Whatever Sirius. I'm sorry for snapping at you James." Said Lily sincerely. "I'm also sorry for yelling at you. My head is pounding right now."  
  
"Yeah, so is mine. Sirius where's the Pepper Up potion?" James asked his best friend. Sirius walked down the short hallway and into the bathroom where he grabbed the bottle and came back into the living room.  
  
"Right in the medicine cabinet Prongs, next to the condoms." Said Sirius as he drank some of the potion then handing it to James. James took some of it then gave it to Lily. Lily made a face.  
  
"Ew. I'm not drinking out of the same bottle as you two nasty boys in your boxer shorts."  
  
"Well as nasty as it may be, it's the only thing that's going to get rid of your hangover so its up to you if you want to go to Auror training in one piece." Said Sirius.  
  
"Give me some of that." Said Lily quickly as she took a swig. Immediately she felt her headache clear and looked at the bottle in amazement. "Wow. Do you know how many muggles would kill for this?"  
  
"Yes but you see that's why we don't want the muggles knowing about us Lily. Its all quite simple really." Said James shrilly. Lily shot him a look.  
  
"Yes, yes make fun of me now. You will be sorry one day." She stated. James looked at her in a mock-disbelieving way. (lol I don't know how to describe it. Sry!)  
  
"Oh am I?" Questioned James. Lily smiled and nodded.  
  
"Just you see. Keep saying stuff about me and you can say goodbye to your crown jewels that you're hiding behind those boxer shorts."  
  
"Ouch!" Intruded Sirius covering his own balls.  
  
"Okay, okay," started James, "you win. Just please let me keep my manhood." Lily stood up and walked toward the door.  
  
"More like boyhood to me." She said with a wink as she exited the apartment. Sirius started laughing hysterically as James looked about ready to kill. "See you boys at the Ministry!" Called Lily down the hallway before closing the door to her own flat. She leaned against the door feeling very pleased with herself. Just then, she heard a very angry James Potter banging on the door behind her.  
  
"Oh very funny Lily. Like you would know. Many women would kill to have a piece of me." Shouted James through the wooden door. Lily laughed heartily and opened the door so she was face to face with James.  
  
"James you really are full of yourself." She laughed. James smiled. He hadn't seen that smile on her face in a long time. Not since May when they were still going out. Lily apparently noticed the smile on his face and asked him why he was smiling.  
  
"Never you mind. Get ready for Auror training. Sirius and I will be over here when we're ready to go." He said about to turn away but Lily's warm hand on his shoulder stopped him. He so missed her touch.  
  
"Wait, why are you coming over to my place first?" Asked Lily cocking an eyebrow. She's so inquisitive thought James adoringly.  
  
"Because you've never been to the Ministry of Magic before have you?" Lily shook her head. She never thought about how she was going to get there before. "I thought so. My mum used to take me to work with her when I was little so I know how to get there."  
  
"James, why are you being so nice to me?" Lily asked. James had to admit that he was a little surprised at her bluntness.  
  
"Can't a bloke be nice to his ex-girlfriend, especially when they're neighbors and co-workers?" He asked genuinely.  
  
"I'm sorry. You're right. It's just that.when we broke up, you know? I know that you were upset and I'm still surprised you're still talking to me even after I treated you." She said softly. She looked up at James with her bright green eyes and he could swear he felt his heart melt at that very moment.  
  
"Its okay. Even if I'm not totally over you yet, we can still be friends. You even said so." Said James. Lily smiled.  
  
"Yeah, okay. So I'll see you later?"  
  
"Sure. Bye Lily."  
  
"Bye James."  
  
~*~  
  
"God, could they put this place somewhere a little more convenient?" Asked Lily gripping her jacket at her sides. It was a very chilly fall day even for London's climate. Sirius and James were walking on either side of her down a run down road. There was nothing that stood out except a red phone booth.  
  
"Lily, stop whining. We're here." Said Sirius as he and James stepped inside the phone booth. Lily looked at both of them quizzically.  
  
"What do you mean 'we're here'? This is a muggle phone both for god's sake!" James shook his head.  
  
"Ah sweet naïve Lily. Its not all that meets the eye!" Exclaimed James. "Come on. Get in. It's a lift that brings us underground to the Ministry of Magic."  
  
"Oh. Okay." Said Lily stepping inside. She wedged herself between the glass door and James. She was so close to James that he could smell the scent of her perfume. It was a very refreshing scent. (It's Tommy Girl!! Muahaha! Sry I love that stuff though.) Sirius dialed the numbers, spoke into the phone, and gave his friend their corresponding badges that the phone discharged from its slot. Suddenly Lily stirred as the floor beneath her began moving down. She clutched James's side in sudden fear of what was going on. James felt his heart skip a bear as he looked down at Lily at the exact moment that she looked up at him. "Sorry." She said nervously removing her hand from his body. James didn't reply but instead nodded.  
  
Before they knew it, they were in the Ministry of Magic. Lily looked around the Atrium in awe. She had never seen anything so magnificent in all of her life. She let out a faint "wow" as she saw the statue of the wizard, witch, house-elf, goblin, and a centaur. James looked over at Lily and chuckled to himself. Typical muggle-born reaction he thought lovingly. Sirius, James, and Lily once again scurried into the lift that brought them down to the Auror department. An old looking wizard with dirty gray hair was sitting on a chair reading The Daily Prophet. The man looked up at James and smiled. Such a smile would suit a person. But not this person. He looked scary.  
  
"James!" exclaimed the man.  
  
"Mad Eye!" Shouted James pulling the man into a tight embrace.  
  
"God lord, you look more and more like your father every time I see you." Said Mad Eye. James smiled wearily and nodded.  
  
"Thank you." He said. Lily knew that James's father was always a tough subject to discuss with James. James's father, Nicholas Potter, was an Auror and died when James was only three years old leaving James with his working mother, Julia, who rarely spoke about her late husband without being on the verge of tears. James had always wanted to follow in his father's footsteps. Mad Eye turned to Lily and Sirius. "Oh this is my best friend Sirius Black and this is Lily Evans. Lily, Sirius, this is my Dad's old friend Alastor Moody. They're both training to become Aurors."  
  
"Hard job, an Auror. Takes a strong person to be one. The training is hard enough and once you get out on the field you'll be lucky if you last more than two years in this day and age." Said Moody scanning the two friends. Lily was a little taken back at this.  
  
"Er, thanks. I think." Said Lily unsure of what to say.  
  
"If you're going to Auror training you better get going. It starts in thirty seconds. That Marlene McKibbon doesn't like slackers."  
  
"Shit we better go." Said James looking at his watch.  
  
"Language Potter." Said Moody sarcastically. James chuckled then grabbed Lily's and began running down the long hallway to get to classroom 56 as instructed on his papers an owl delivered. Sirius was right behind them. When they finally burst into the room, everyone's eyes diverted directly to them. Lily smiled awkwardly.  
  
"Um this is Auror training, right?" Just then a tall woman with long wavy strawberry-blonde hair apperated in the classroom. She was wearing pale pink wizarding robes and a harsh look on her face.  
  
"Well, well, well. Late on the first day. Names please?" Asked the woman conjuring up a clipboard and a quill from a nearby table.  
  
"Sirius Black."  
  
"Lily Evans."  
  
"James Potter." The woman looked up from her clipboard and peered over her black trimmed glasses.  
  
"Potter?" She questioned. James nodded. "I knew your father. He was a good man. Please take your seats and let it be known to all of you that I will not tolerate tardiness in my class." James, Sirius, and Lily all sat down next to one another. Sirius leaned up to James's ear.  
  
"Reminds me of McGonagall, eh?" James and Sirius snickered and Lily rolled her eyes.  
  
"I hope you boys aren't disrupting my class for the second time in the first few minutes of the first class." Said the woman coldly.  
  
"Oh no Ms.Ms." Started James.  
  
"Marlene McKibbon. That's Ms. McKibbon to you and if I were Black, I'd stay out of trouble. That goes for you two Mr. Potter, Ms. Evans." Stated Marlene adjusting her glasses so that they were no longer at the tip of her nose.  
  
"I can assure you Ms. McKibbon that I will not be any trouble at all." Said Sirius obviously sarcastic.  
  
"Hm." Said Marlene annoyed. "Lets begin, shall we?"  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Hey, sry for how long it took me to update again. My social life is out of control. Lol I need my time to myself but noooooooo my friends are crazy! Sry if I made Lily too hostile than she was in other chapters but I dunno I felt like giving her a little more depth. Sry for my language too. Lol I think I already apologized for that but still, I know its bad. My family's not helping me try and get better. Just today when my boyfriend called my step dad was like "***-*****? Who the fuck are you.Oh hi, JM what's with all of this fucking formality?" lmao it was funny but still. Oh and I use the **s cuz I don't wanna use his real name just in case he finds out and gets mad even though I know he won't. lol  
  
Hopefully I'll update soon. If you want a really want to know what I'm up to check out my xanga. My friends all have them too if you wanna see what they're doing to. Lol most of them are depressing but Jm's is amusing or will be when he updates again.  
  
OMG!!! Welcome Back, Kotter is on! Mr. KOT-TER! Omg I love the theme song. Yes I am a TV junkie and no, I see nothing wrong with it. Damnit I though Square Pegs was gonna be on. TV Land rules by the way, especially late at night. Happy Birthday to my best friend Emma in NY! Her birthday was Sunday so lets all say "Hi Emma!" hehehe. 


	6. Catching Up and Moving On

New chapter. Yippee. Everyone go out and get Chicago on DVD. I love it.  
  
You can like the life you're living  
  
You can live the life you like  
  
You can even marry Harry  
  
And mess around with Ike.  
  
And that's good  
  
Isn't it grand?  
  
Isn't it great?  
  
Isn't it swell?  
  
Isn't fine isn't it?  
  
But nothing stays  
  
In fifty years or so  
  
Its gonna change you know  
  
But all that's heaven  
  
Nowadays  
  
"Nowadays" Chicago  
  
omg, Lily Evans Potter9 is a goddess. I've been put on her favorite stories list! I'm so happy I could cry. Seriously I have no self-esteem when it comes to my writing lol. Sad, I know but very true. My mom kinda taught me to expect the worse so whenever something good happens, its ten times better. So yeah, lol. Thank you so much to all of you who have reviewed! Believe me, for every review I receive it makes my dream of becoming a screenwriter closer. This chapter was not that planned out. In fact as soon as I was done writing chapter 5, I had no idea what to do. Its not writer's block, its just stupidity. Hope you like it!  
  
Enjoy!  
  
Disclaimer: Unless JK Rowling has turned into a teenage Italian American girl living in central Virginia, then no, I am not Ms. Rowling nor do I own anyone in this story except for the people you've never heard of before (there aren't a lot of them so don't worry. I don't like O.C.s in L/J fanficts)  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Catching Up and Moving On  
  
"Can you believe what a bitch McKibbon is!?" Exclaimed Sirius walking down the London streets with Lily Evans at his left and his best friend and roommate James Potter at his right. Lily glared at Sirius. It had been a month since the first Auror training and Marlene McKibbon had not started to warm up to any of her students and seemed like she never would.  
  
"She's not a bitch Sirius! She's a.well, she's a bit of a." Started Lily trying to think of the right word.  
  
"A bitch." Finished James. Lily looked at James and rolled her eyes as he smiled knowing he had been right. They got to the guys' apartment and Lily sat down on the couch next to James. Sirius headed over to kitchen and grabbed a glass of water. He came back into the living room soon after.  
  
"Its so boring around here nowadays. Lily, take off your top." Said Sirius grinning madly.  
  
"What? James please beat him senselessly for me?" Asked Lily turning to her left. James shook his head.  
  
"Can't do Lily. Besides him being my best mate I do have to admit that I'd like you to take off your top." Lily leaned over and slapped him hard on the shoulder. "What?!" Yelled James defensively. "I didn't do anything! You just happen to have a very nice- -"  
  
"That's enough!" She said putting her hand over his mouth. James wished that it were her lips over his mouth. Sirius chuckled then looked at his watch.  
  
"Shit!" He shouted.  
  
"What is it Padfoot?" Asked James casually.  
  
"I got a date with Gabby in 10 minutes." Said Sirius rushing to his bedroom to get ready quickly.  
  
"Who's Gabby?" Asked Lily as she and James followed Sirius into his room. Lily sat on his bed and James stood in the doorframe.  
  
"A girl I met at the Ministry. I was on my way to the bathroom and I got lost and she pointed me in the right direction."  
  
"Do you like her?" Questioned James.  
  
"Sure. Why not?" Said Sirius briskly.  
  
"Really?" Asked James again.  
  
"I don't know! Jesus Christ, we talked for a minute and I asked her out for tonight so I could get back so McKibbon wouldn't kick my arse." Said Sirius huffily. He turned around, looked in the mirror, and looked back at his friends. "How do I look?" He asked. Sirius was wearing dark denim jeans and a black buttoned up shirt. With his natural good looks and bad boy image, he looked nothing short of a modern day Fonzi.  
  
"Honestly?" Asked Lily. Sirius nodded. "Hot." Sirius grinned.  
  
"Excellent. See you all later! Hope you have fun Friday nights alone!" He shouted. Just as he walked out of the room, he leaned up to James to whisper in his ear. "And remember, the condoms are in the bathroom Potter. Don't get too frisky while I'm gone." With that and wink Sirius dissapperated from the flat. James shook his head and laughed.  
  
"I wish." He said under his breath.  
  
"Huh?" Inquired Lily while walking up to him and cocking an eyebrow making her look irresistible in James's eyes.  
  
"I said I wish you would take off your cloths." He blurted out grinning. Lily slapped him playfully. "Ow!"  
  
"You're so horny James. When's the last time you've gotten laid?" She asked as the two of them went out into the small but cozy living room. She picked up the latest issue of The Daily Prophet and started scanning it aimlessly.  
  
"Seriously," James started, "about a year." Lily dropped the newspaper in her hand and looked at James. She didn't believe her ears.  
  
"A year?" She questioned in disbelief. Never would she think that sentence would ever be uttered out of James Potter's mouth. In Hogwarts he had lost his virginity in fifth year to a sixth year Ravenclaw and has since then always been known as a playboy. In order to try and win over Lily, James had sworn off sex. That and the fact that he had stopped hexing people in the hallways and acted like a true gentleman in front of Lily was the reason why she agreed to go out with him. Lily just assumed that when they broke up James had at least met a few women at some bars or something. "How has it been a year?"  
  
"I haven't had sex since last August then I started going out with you and I knew you wanted to stay a virgin until your wedding night so- -" Started James.  
  
"I never said until my wedding night!" Exclaimed Lily.  
  
"Yes you did. You told me, remember?" Reminded James.  
  
"Okay, I might've meant that but not anymore." Said Lily. James blinked.  
  
"So does that mean you'll have sex with me?" He asked.  
  
"No!" Yelled Lily. She sighed. "I'm just so tired of always being 'the virgin', you know?" Lily said sitting on the lumpy couch.  
  
"Actually I don't know. I've always been the playboy." Stated James joining Lily.  
  
"And you don't get tired of it?" She asked.  
  
"No. Who would get tired of having tons of sex?"  
  
"See? That's what I mean! I make such a big deal out of it. You and Sirius are the kind of people that can just have a one-night stand and never bother to talk to the girl again. Just once in my life I'd like to be." Lily looked down and started playing with her fingers nervously.  
  
"Be what?" Asked James. Lily sighed then laughed slightly.  
  
"This is going to sound ridiculous." She said.  
  
"No it won't." Said James calmly. "Come on, you can tell me." Lily looked up at James with her wide green eyes.  
  
"Just once in my life I'd like to be the kind of girl that guys drool over. That guys go, 'Wow, look at her' when they see me." Lily laughed to herself. "I know that must sound so stupid and ignorant."  
  
"It is stupid and ignorant. Lily, you really think guys don't swoon over you? In Hogwarts, do you know how many guys had crushes on you but were just too intimidated by you to say anything? Hell, look at me! It took me five years to ask you out! You're gorgeous Lil. You're intelligent, funny, witty." Lily giggled and smiled.  
  
"You really think so?" Asked Lily moving her hair behind her ears moving in closer to James.  
  
"I know so. I remember when we were going out when we'd walk into the Great Hall together all of the guys would turn and look at you and I remember thinking that I was the luckiest guy in Hogwarts." Said James earnestly.  
  
"James, that's so sweet. I think that's one of the nicest things I've ever heard you say to me." She said as she kissed him on the cheek and hugged him tight. James hugged and buried his face in her thick hair.  
  
The two carried on like that for hours just talking and catching up with one another about their summer vacation. When they first came to their new apartments, Lily and James' relationship was rocky. Now it was permanent and set in stone. Never had James and Lily be friends before they were dating but they both realized what they were missing out on all of those years.  
  
Around 11 or the conversation had died down and they started to become sleepy. Lily rubbed her eyes and groaned.  
  
"I can't believe how late it is." She said checking her watch on her wrist.  
  
"Its not that late." Said James. His stomach gave a loud lurch.  
  
"Hungry?" Asked Lily.  
  
"Maaaaaaybe." Replied James. Lily smiled and went to his refrigerator. She was a bit hungry too.  
  
"Typical men. There's nothing in here." Stated Lily rummaging through old milk cartons and a few rancid pieces of cheese.  
  
"Well is there anything in your place?" Asked James standing up from the couch. Lily straightened up and looked at James. She had forgotten how tall he really was from being level on the couch with him. He looked very handsome with his hair ruffled and glasses slighted askew.  
  
"No." Said Lily with a smile. James sighed.  
  
"Typical Lily." He imitated. Lily rolled her eyes. "Do you want to go out somewhere to get a bite to eat?"  
  
"Sure." Lily said following James to the door to get their jackets. "Where are we going?" She asked.  
  
"There's this 24 hour food shop down the block that's pretty good." Suggested James.  
  
"Sounds good to me." With that they walked down the staircases and down the block still talking and laughing. James was having a great time. He loved making Lily laugh and loved seeing her smile at him.  
  
When they arrived at the food shop, James placed their order and stood their waiting. While he was waiting, his mind drifted to Lily, as it often did. He wanted to ask her out. I'll do it tonight, he thought, when we get home. The food was ready and James paid. He began looking around the store for Lily when he saw her down on the other side. His heart sunk.  
  
Lily Evans was standing there talking to a man who had his back faced to James laughing placing her hand on the man's chest who. He said something inaudible to James then leaned down and kissed Lily on the cheek. Lily smiled her infamous smile and the man turned around. It was no other than Amos Diggory.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Well, that's 6. Hope you liked it.  
  
Meg Hearts- Hehe, Sirius makes me laugh too. He's a lot like my friends so it's easy for me to write his character.  
  
Bombshell-Thank you! I literally pull just write down whatever comes to mind.  
  
Hope I got this chapter out soon enough for all of you! Been so busy with school! Oi, I'm so glad I'm taking it easy for a while. I stayed up ALL NIGHT writing this chapter. Hehehe determined little me. 


	7. Cold Autumn Nights

Hey, hope you like this chapter. Thanks for all of you that reviewed. I know that it took me a while to get this chapter up but actually I've been busy writing the end of this fanfict. I was thinking about it when I was babysitting one night and I had to write it down and get it out of my head and on to my computer as quickly as possible. Trust me, you'll like it. As for my cliff hanger at the end of the last chapter, that was so you all would want to read the next chapter. Hehehe I'm so evil.  
  
"September never stays this cold where I come from and you know.... I'm not one for complaining." -Taking Back Sunday "Great Romances of the 20th Century"  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Cold Autumn Nights  
  
Lily was walking around the food store aimlessly when she saw a handsome blonde man she knew from Hogwarts. He was slightly taller than James with light blue eyes wearing a navy blue shirt and jeans. He looked like a Greek god. The man turned around and saw Lily and smiled. "Lily Evans?"  
  
Lily was shocked. Amos was three years older than she was and the only time they ever really talked was at prefect meetings and he never addressed her by her name. "Amos?" She questioned even though she already knew.  
  
"Wow." Amos stared at Lily for a bit making Lily feel a little uncomfortable. Then he smiled. "You look amazing. If it weren't for your gorgeous red hair I don't think I would've recognized you. I would've mistaken you for a supermodel." Said the dashing blonde. Lily blushed.  
  
"Thank you. So how are you doing? Its been such a long time!" Exclaimed Lily.  
  
"I know. It seems like forever since I've been back at Hogwarts."  
  
"I know it seems like just yesterday it was June and I had just graduated." Said Lily. Amos smiled.  
  
"So how are things?" Asked Amos sweetly.  
  
"Good. I'm in training to become an Auror."  
  
"Are you really? Excellent! Maybe someday I could stop by and we can talk." Lily smiled.  
  
"That'd be nice." She said kindly and softly. Amos grinned making him look more incredible than ever before.  
  
"Great." Amos checked his watch and looked back up at Lily. "Damn, I have to get back to the Ministry. Promise me I can see you again?" Questioned Amos. Lily smiled her brilliant smile that she knew mad every guy mad.  
  
"Of course." She said briskly.  
  
"You know, I don't think I've ever seen a woman as beautiful as you." Said Amos. Lily laughed and placed a hand on Amos's chest. Amos leaned down and gave her a kiss on the cheek before walking off. Lily was smiling uncontrollably feeling extremely content with herself and her run in with Amos. The feeling she was having was great and she never wanted it to end. But it did when she turned around and saw the look of James's face on the other side of the aisle.  
  
She walked quickly over to him trying to hide her smile, and failing miserably. "What's wrong?" Asked Lily. James looked a bit pale and a little odd. "Oh, nothing." He said obviously lying. Lily could usually tell when he was lying to her or anyone else. Lily shrugged.  
  
The walk home was very odd. Very odd indeed. The pair barely said two words to each other until they got home. They went back to their own apartments with the exchange of a quick "goodbyes."  
  
~*~  
  
Two months passed with no word from Amos. Lily was a little hurt at first but quickly moved on. She spent her free time with James and Sirius, her new best friends. They went clubbing and drank a bit, but not getting anywhere near as drunk as they all did their first night in London. Lily talked to a few guys but none of them really caught her attention. Sirius, on the other hand, was loving his new life. But James, James was different. He didn't go out on dates at all and but had fun when they all went out as friends. One night, Sirius and James where sitting home alone in their flat. James was reading the Daily Prophet and Sirius was checking himself in the mirror.  
  
"Do you think my hair would look good long?" Asked Sirius looking at his reflection in the mirror.  
  
"If I answer that you would call me gay?" Replied James not looking up from his paper.  
  
"True." Said Sirius sitting down next to James. "What's the matter Prongs? Ever since we moved here, you haven't been the same!" James sighed and put down his paper.  
  
"I know. Its Lily." Sirius groaned loudly.  
  
"GR! I knew Lily was to blame for all of this! Why can't you stop obsessing over her?" Asked Sirius. James cringed. Had he really been obsessing over her? He didn't like to think of Lily as an obsession. No, obsessions has such negative connotations. It was just.a project.  
  
"I'm not obsessed with her! I just want her back." Said James. Sirius shook his head.  
  
"James, listen to me. You're the closest thing to a brother I've ever had. I love you, okay? But you have got to stop moping around waiting for Lily to come jumping into bed with you. Remember the old Prongs, the Prongs that would do anything for a laugh. C'mon, you've got to start getting back to your old self. Face it, its over." Those words his James like a ton of bricks. No one had ever been that blunt to him, no one except for Lily. The words replayed in his head for a moment.  
  
Sirius looked at James and realized he was hurt. "Look James, I'm sorry but someone had to say it. Just be glad it was me and not Lily."  
  
"You're right Sirius. I'm going to get on with my life. Hey, I don't need her. She's had all of the time in the world to love me." Said James standing up triumphantly and feeling very confidant.  
  
"That's the old James Potter!" Exclaimed Sirius jumping up with him. "So, what are you going to do now?"  
  
"I say we go out and try to meet as many women as possible!" Sirius grinned.  
  
"Excellent idea if I do say so myself." Said Sirius grabbing his coat and patting James on the back. The two were walking down the hallway and James suddenly stopped at Lily's door and knocked. "What the bloody hell do you think you're doing?"  
  
James looked over at Sirius. "Inviting Lily." Sirius groaned loudly.  
  
"James, why are you going to bring your ex-girlfriend with you when you want to go out and meet women?" Questioned Sirius.  
  
"Padfoot, she's still our friend regardless- -"  
  
"Regardless of what?" Asked a sweet voice. James turned around to face what would be the door. Instead he saw Lily Evans.  
  
"Oh, hey Lily."  
  
"Regardless of what? I heard part of your conversation when I was reading up for Auror Training." Said Lily eyeing the men carefully.  
  
"Oh nothing, nothing." Sirius said briskly. Lily cocked an eyebrow. "You know Lily, if you keep doing that then it might get stuck that way."  
  
"Haha. I'm dying of laughter." She said sarcastically.  
  
"Of course you are. Everyone laughs at Mr. Black's jokes." Said Sirius folding his arms in front of his chest. James laughed at his best mate.  
  
"So, what brings you around my place?" Asked Lily.  
  
"We- -" Sirius nudged him in the gut, "I," corrected James. "wanted to know if you want to come out with us." Lily smiled softly.  
  
"No, I'm sorry. I have plans," Replied Lily.  
  
"Plans? What kind of plans?" Asked Sirius.  
  
"A date."  
  
"A date with who?" Asked James.  
  
"Amos Diggory." James felt his heart stop again. *No she did not just say that* thought James.  
  
"Oh." Said James softly. Lily smiled sweetly.  
  
"I'm sorry. Another time, I promise." Suggested Lily.  
  
"Okay. See you later. Have fun on your.date." James said almost painfully walking back into his apartment. Lily noticed his unusual behavior.  
  
"What's with him?" She asked turning to Sirius. Sirius shrugged.  
  
"I wish I could tell you." He said following James. He entered the apartment to see James lying down on the couch with his hands behind his head. "Prongs, what the hell happened?"  
  
"Diggory."  
  
"Diggory? That fruitcake from Hogwarts! What did he do?" Sirius asked laughing.  
  
"Didn't you hear? He's taking Lily out tonight." James said looking at his best friend.  
  
"So? You two aren't going out anymore! It doesn't matter. You were in such a good mood. Don't let Diggory bring you down. C'mon, let's go."  
  
"I'm not coming." Said James stubbornly. "Besides, I have some work to catch up on. God knows McKibbon will freak if I don't have my paperwork done." Sirius sighed.  
  
"Alright." He said. "Don't stay up to late."  
  
"Look who's talking." James said with a smirk. Sirius grinned the apperated out of the flat leaving James alone. He wondered if he should go over to Lily's and talk to her before her date, but how awkward would that be if Amos came while he was still there? James sighed to himself and closed his eyes praying to have a dreamless sleep. Instead he found himself reminiscing of his first date with Lily at Hogsmade. James smiled and quickly forgot about Lily, Sirius, and Diggory as he drifted off into sleep.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Hope you liked it! I punched it out one night so that I could possibly get more reviews. I have the whole entire story planned out on notebook paper so I have some idea of what's going to happen in later chapters. If you read my bio then you'll know that I already have written the last chapters of this fanfict. Keep reading and reviewing. The more reviews, the faster I update. 


	8. Letters to You

Omg, I am so, so sry that I haven't updated in a while. If you check out my xanga, you'll see that everything is so crazy and I barely have time to sleep. Its insane. This is my first weekend in a while that I have been able to sit down and actually write. I found a page of this chapter that I wrote at school so that's gonna help me. I also have the flu. ( No, not good at all. Anyways, if there are some problems in this chapter, I apologize in advance. Actually this sort of turned out good cuz this chapter is all about the holidays and the holidays are upon us! My laziness has good timing it seems.  
  
Arien Eledhwen- Don't worry. I've been thinking about that too. See, my thinking is that for Lily to have gone out with James in year seven of Hogwarts, he would have had to change some what drastically to get Lily to stop hating him. He did loose some of his edge but he will regain it soon.  
  
Angelxd14 reviewed my story. I was in shock when I read the e-mail. Seriously people, if you like this stuff, read hers. It is by far one of the best fanficts I've ever read. Forgotten Dreams made me cry. Read Forgotten Dreams immediately after reviewing this cuz you know you want to review. I love hearing from my readers.  
  
I want you to know that I miss you I miss you I miss you so  
  
I'm writing again, these letters to you. How much I know But I'm not sleeping; you're not here. That stops my heart.  
  
"Letters to You" Finch  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Letters to You  
  
It was mid-December and a week after Lily's big date with Amos. Christmas spirit was in the air and everyone was in an all around good mood. It seemed like everything was perfect for James Potter. Well, almost everything.  
  
It was December 13th and Sirius and James were sitting on Lily's couch waiting for Lily to serve them their hot chocolate. Sirius rubbed his hands together and shivered. "Goddamnit Lily, how long does it take? Are you doing it the muggle way?" Asked Sirius peering into the kitchen.  
  
"Yes. I think it tastes better this way." She replied from the kitchen. Sirius and James both groaned.  
  
"Lily, pweeease can you just heat it up with magic? You're killing us out here." Said James whining like a child.  
  
"Please James, leave the cooking to me and I'll leave the maundering to you two." Retorted Lily with a smirk. James smiled and sighed.  
  
"Fine, fine."  
  
"No!" Shouted Sirius deligently. "It may be 'fine, fine' with Prongs but not with me!"  
  
"Will you please stop complaining!? Before you know it, it'll be done." Lily once again shouted from her spot in the kitchen.  
  
"That's what you women always do to us men." began Sirius going off on a tangent. James shook his head at his friend's childish behavior and looked over at Lily who was doing the same thing. They caught each others eyes and they smiled at each other. Sirius stopped for a moment but none of them seemed to notice that the rambling had ceased. "Excuse me but your dear friend Sirius is talking."  
  
"Oh shut up and have your cocoa already." Lily said brining the two mugs. Sirius and James both took sips.  
  
"This is really good!" Exclaimed Sirius. Lily sighed and gave him the infamous "I told you so" look.  
  
"So what is everyone doing for the holidays?" Asked Lily.  
  
"Going to my mum's and making dinner with her." Said James.  
  
"James, that's adorable! I never knew that you made dinner with your mother." Lily said in admiration.  
  
"There's a lot you don't know about me, believe it or not." Responded James.  
  
"Oh really?" Lily asked in a faux-seductive voice and making a look that made both of the men in the room uncomfortable.  
  
"Uhh, Sirius what are you doing?" Questioned James trying to remain as cool and collected as he always was.  
  
"Don't know mate. Seeing as my family is a bunch of dark supporters and I'm training to be an Auror, it may be a little uncomfortable to go back home even if I wanted to." Said Sirius.  
  
"You're welcomed to come to my mum's house like last year Padfoot." Offered James.  
  
"Nah, I couldn't impose."  
  
"Bull. You're going with me to my mum's for Christmas and that's final." Sirius sighed.  
  
"Fine, fine. It looks like there's no getting out of it with you. Lily, what are you doing?"  
  
"Oh I thought you'd never ask!" Exclaimed Lily jokingly. "I'm going back home to spend Christmas with my parents and my sister."  
  
"Your sister Petunia?" Asked James in disgust. "And you're happy about seeing her because?"  
  
"Because I want to try to patch things up with her." Said Lily. "She's my sister, you know? We're family. We should be able to have a civilized conversation with one another without her telling me what a foul creature I am."  
  
"Oh, is this the sister who hates magic?" Asked Sirius trying to comprehend what his friends were discussing.  
  
"Yup, the one and only Petunia Evans." Said Lily with a sigh. "Oh well."  
  
"Since we're all going somewhere for the holidays, I think we should have a Christmas party or something of the sorts." Suggested Sirius.  
  
"Great idea Padfoot! When shall we have it?" Asked James.  
  
"That depends. Lily, when are you leaving for your mum's?"  
  
"The twenty-third." Said Lily.  
  
"Alright then, the party will be on the twenty second, 9pm, our flat. Sounds alright with all of you?" Prompted Sirius.  
  
"Sounds alright with me mate." Said James.  
  
"Oi, this sounds like fun! Who would be coming?" Questioned Lily.  
  
"Basically our friends from the ministry, all of our old friends from Hogwarts that are in the area, and whoever we want to invite." Said Sirius.  
  
"Ooh, this will be so much fun! I can't wait to tell Amos about it!" Exclaimed Lily. James and Sirius looked at each other. Lily noticed. "What? Was it something I said?"  
  
"No, no," said James, "we just remembered that we have to clean the flat today."  
  
"Yes," agreed Sirius, "cleaning. That's what it was." Lily eyed the two men suspiciously.  
  
"Hmmm." She looked at her watch quickly. "Bugger, I have to go do my Christmas shopping now!"  
  
"Shopping for who?" Questioned James.  
  
"My mum, dad, sister, even though she's going to throw away whatever I get her, Marlene McGibbon, you, Sirius, and Amos. I've really got to be going now. See you all later!" Said Lily with a snap as she dissapperated from the apartment.  
  
"Since when are we exchanging Christmas gifts?" Inquired Sirius. James shrugged.  
  
"Got me. What should I get Lily?" Asked James.  
  
"You're getting her a present?"  
  
"Sure. She's getting me one."  
  
"Yeah but knowing you you're going to get her something ridiculous."  
  
"Why would I do something like that?"  
  
"Because Prongs, I know you. You're thinking that this is the chance to show Lily how you really feel." He said in a feminine voice.  
  
"So? What's the harm in that?" Sirius sighed.  
  
"Do what you want mate. I can't stop you."  
  
~*~  
  
A few hours later when Sirius fell asleep reading the Daily Prophet on the couch, James headed off to Diagon Alley to look for the perfect gift for Lily. He walked down the cobble streets full of witches and wizards of all ages and sizes looking for the right gift for the right person.  
  
He looked around at all of the different shops. The first to catch his eye was of course, his favorite, Quality Quidditch Supplies. James had the sudden urge to go inside and look at some of the new selection of broomsticks when he remembered why he had come to Diagon Alley in the first place, Lily. He walked past Quality Quidditch Supplies and tried to think of a store that would have the perfect gift for Lily. James walked along the cobblestone road peaking inside the different stores and looking at their stock. He finally came to the jewelry shop and decided that he could definitely find something for Lily in there.  
  
James walked in a noticed all of the brilliantly glimmering jewelry all over the store. He started looking inside one of the jewelry cases when a small, stout witch approached him.  
  
"Need any help?" Offered the witch in a scratchy sort of voice.  
  
"No, thanks. I think I can manage by myself." Replied James. He turned back to the jewelry case and looked at a particular ring that had caught his eye. The little witch followed his eyes and looked back up at James.  
  
"Oh that's a beautiful one, that is. Are you looking for your girlfriend?" James felt suddenly awkward.  
  
"Er, not exactly." Said James with uncertainty. The witch smiled and nodded.  
  
"Oh I see. Trying to win her over, eh?" James smiled and nodded. "What's her name?" Asked the witch.  
  
"Lily." Said James. He wasn't afraid of telling the witch seeing as all of Lily's family were muggles.  
  
"Lily." Repeated the witch. "Lovely name. Just as lovely as the woman I suppose." Said the witch laughing. James chuckled.  
  
"Right. Now I supposed you want to see the ring." The woman muttered a spell and the glass disappeared. The witch reached in, pulled out the ring, and the glass reappeared. The little ring was glimmering in her hand. The ring was gold with tiny diamonds encrusted around it. James knew he had to give it to Lily. "How much?" Asked James. The witch looked at the ring and then back at James. "Its originally 115 gallons but for you, for you let's say 75. I can tell a good man when I see one." James smiled. Five minutes later, James left Diagon Alley with the ring he was going to win Lily over with.  
  
~*~  
  
When James arrived home, Sirius was still snoring on the couch. He went to his room silently hoping not to disturb his sleeping roommate. He closed the door gently and pulled out the ring. He prayed that Lily would like it. But what if she didn't, he thought. James sighed. He moved across the tiny room to his desk and sat down. James was bored. He set the ring down next to him and started to think. He thought about his future with Lily. He imagined them together laughing, walking down the isle, and playing with their children. James smiled. He stared down at a few blank sheets of paper and noticed a quill near by. He reached over for some ink and dabbed the quill into it. Before he knew it, he was writing all of his inner most feelings on to his parchment. Page after page filled with his feelings for Lily. After a while, he stopped writing and fell asleep on his desk.  
  
About a half an hour later, Sirius was up and wondering where James was. He opened up the door to James's bedroom, and peaked in. He saw James fast asleep on his desk and walked in the room. "James." Whispered Sirius shaking his friend, getting more and more fierce as time passed on. "James!"  
  
Suddenly, Sirius noticed what was all over his desk. He picked up one of the parchments and started reading it. He laughed out loud and grabbed for another one. These were too priceless, he thought to himself. As he laughed again, sleeping beauty, aka James Potter, woke up. "SIRIUS! What in the hell are you reading?" Yelled James trying to grab the papers from Sirius. Sirius ran out of the room and around the flat as James chased him.  
  
"James, I had no idea you were such a poetic man! 'Your eyes are like emeralds deep in a pure white pool.' That's classic Prongs."  
  
"Give them back! They're mine! You have no right reading them."  
  
"Oh yes I do!" Shouted Sirius back at his friend. James sighed and tried to calm down.  
  
"Please, give them back to me Sirius." Said James. Sirius looked at his friend and saw the desperation on his face.  
  
"Fine, fine." Said Sirius reluctantly handed the love notes back to James. "They are good though. They come from the heart."  
  
"Tell me about it." James said heading back to his room.  
  
"No really, I think Lily would really like to read that." James didn't turn around. "Maybe you should give them to her for Christmas." James stopped and turned around.  
  
"You think so?" He asked. "Because I already got her a ring."  
  
"A ring!? Jesus Christ Prongs, you haven't even slept with the girl and you got her an engagement ring?" Exclaimed Sirius.  
  
"It's not an engagement ring, just a ring." Said James. "But do you really think that I should give her the papers?"  
  
"Of course! Women love romantic crap like that!" James thought about it for a while then smiled. "Yeah.then maybe she'll get rid of that asshole Amos."  
  
~*~  
  
The twenty-second arrived in full blast. At nine o'clock pm, about 35 people crowded into James and Sirius's magically enchanted large flat and partied their asses off. Everyone Lily, James, and Sirius knew were there. Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew came and partied it up. Peter got so drunk, he took off his shirt and ran around screaming "PARTY HARDY! PARTY HARDY!" Amos came, as planned, and talked with Lily touching her and putting his arm around her whenever possible. At about midnight, the party was just starting to show its age and James and Sirius actually had a chance to talk.  
  
"Hey Prongs!"  
  
"Padfoot, how's the party treating you?"  
  
"Like a thirteen year old boy in a porno shop."  
  
"I'll drink to that!" Said James as he and Sirius both took a swig of their firewhiskeyes. James scoped the room and quickly found the delightful redhead he had thought about so often.  
  
"Okay, here it is. The moment of truth."  
  
"Huh?" Questioned Sirius.  
  
"I'm going to give Lily the letters!"  
  
"Ooh. Right, right, right." Said a some-what druken Sirius.  
  
"Wish me luck Padfoot."  
  
"James! Wait!"  
  
"What?" Sirius looked at his best friend abruptly.  
  
"Don't give her the letter." James looked blankly back at his friend.  
  
"What?"  
  
"You heard me. Don't give her the letter. Not yet anyway. Just go back to your room and give her some money or something so she can buy something she likes." James pulled out the folded letter from his pocket and looked down. "Trust me Prongs. Have I ever steered you wrong?"  
  
"Yes! How about that time that you almost convinced me to bring Snape to see Remus when he was in werewolf form? You almost got Snape killed?"  
  
"Number one, that was a long time ago."  
  
"It was back in Hogwarts!" Ejaculated James loudly.  
  
"Okay then, not so long ago. But still, think of a time when it involved women." James considered his best friend's words for a moment and couldn't think of anything to come back with that would contradict Sirius's statement. "That's what I thought. James, look at her." James did as he was told and looked back over his shoulder at Lily chatting merrily with Amos Diggory with a smile on her face that he had yet to see in months. "Do you see that?" Asked Sirius following James's eyes.  
  
"Yeah." Said James in awe of Lily's radiance. James smiled and looked down at his paper. He knew what to do.  
  
~*~  
  
An hour later, the party had cleared out and everyone had left. Sirius and James were walking around the flat after just cleaning it, magically of course, as Lily sat on the couch napping. James looked over at Lily and couldn't help thinking of how beautiful and peaceful she looked while sleeping. "Hey mate, don't you think you should wake her up?" Asked Sirius noticing Lily on the couch for the first time.  
  
"How come we can't just let her sleep here?" Retorted James.  
  
"Because that couch is uncomfortable. She should be in her own bed." Said Sirius.  
  
"Well, well, it seems as if Sirius Black does in fact care about me." Said Lily sleepily rubbing her eyes.  
  
"When did you wake up?" Asked Sirius almost sounding frightened.  
  
"As soon as you two prats started talking about me." Lily stretched and yawned. "And thank you Sirius for not wanting me to sleep on the couch. It is terribly uncomfortable."  
  
"Yeah, well no one deserves to sleep on that thing. Its as old as Dumbledore." Said Sirius trying to regain his "coolness". Lily got up off the couch and ran over to Sirius and embraced him jokingly  
  
"Aw, ickle Sirius loves me!" She exclaimed starting to squeeze tighter.  
  
"Ah, Lily! Get off!" Sirius said trying to push the red-head off of him.  
  
"Alas, it's the Black charm, eh Padfoot? Women just can't seem to keep their hands off of you." Interjected James as he came closer to his friends.  
  
"Ew! Thank you James for reminding me of all of our dear friend's sexual mishaps. Merlin knows what sorts of sexually transmitted diseases could be crawling all over him." Said Lily as she let go of Sirius and brushed herself off. James laughed as Sirius took defense.  
  
"Excuse me but I'll have you know that I have never had a sexual transmitted disease in my life." Said Sirius crossing his arms in front of his chest.  
  
"Ha!" Exclaimed James. "What about that night after Fay Greer? From what I remember you told me that she gave you--" Sirius quickly put his hand over James's mouth.  
  
"Now, now. That's enough of that." Said Sirius quickly.  
  
"I'll let you boys be. I'm going off to bed. Happy Christmas! See you in a week!" Said Lily excitedly as she headed out the door. James smiled and Sirius noticed.  
  
"What are you smiling about?" Asked Sirius.  
  
"Oh nothing."  
  
~*~  
  
Lily dug into her pocket and pulled out her keys. She was still not fully wake and dropped her keys on her welcome mat. Grudgingly, she bent down and expected to see her fallen keys but did not. Instead what she saw was a box, a tiny velvet jewelry box. Still not knowing what the jewelry box was doing at her doorstep, she picked up her keys and unlocked the door. Lily entered her flat, closed the door and opened the box. Her eyes widened at the sight. It was a ring. A gold ring encrusted with tiny diamonds around it. Just when she was about to touch it, Lily slammed the box shut. "No," she thought to herself, "someone in the building must have dropped it. I'll ask around tomorrow." And with that, Lily set aside the ring on her table and headed off to her room.  
  
Ten minutes later, she was dressed and ready for bed. She pulled back the covers and slipped in trying not to ruin her perfect, wrinkle free bed. She tucked herself in tight and faced the direction of James and Sirius's apartment, seeing as it was the most comfortable position Lily could put herself in. She closed her eyes and almost instantly fell asleep. That night, she had a dream about the ring she had found and a certain messy haired boy.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Again, I am so sorry about the long wait. I truly apologize and I am going to try to get chapter 9 up as soon as possible. 


	9. Threesomes

Wondering why I updated so soon? A-I have four days off from school, B-I had exams this week and after them I did a chapter outline (my first, thank you very much!), and C- I decided that I am going to reward myself with an Apple 15 inch Powerbook when I finish this fanfict and the one I'm gonna do right after it. I bought my iPod and I've been finding out more and more about apples and I've fallen madly in love with macs. Who knows, maybe one day you'll see me on one of those "I switched to mac" commercials. I could see it now.*laughs*. I already have ALMOST enough money for one but this is supposedly gonna be the one I use when I go off to college (I'm a freshman starting my second semester of high school) and I'd have to empty out my bank account which would really piss off my bank considering I opened up my account on boxing day. Oh well.besides, I haven't even started my new fanfict; which is good because I still have a few chapters left to write.  
  
Thank you to all of my reviewers! You can check out my xanga here if you want spoilers or updates on what's happening: my xanga  
  
Oh dear lord.my mom just came in my room to ask me how to spell "afterwards". She thought it was "afterwoods". That's why New Yorkers rarely win spelling bees. Their phonics skills are completely demolished and the English language is butchered. Lol, that's probably why me and my friend Kate always sucked at Spelling! Good times, good times.  
  
Disclaimer: Like I'm really JK Rowling.*sighs* I wish.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Again 9  
  
Threesomes  
  
On January 2nd, James, Sirius, and Lily all met up at The Leaky Cauldron to meet together for the first time since their party. James and Sirius were sitting at a nearby table waiting for little miss perfect to show up. They were drinking a butterbeer when Lily eventually showed up. "What took you so long?" Asked Sirius.  
  
"My mum and dad where giving me their own randition of the Spanish Inquisition by asking me every little detail about Amos." Replied Lily taking a seat next to Sirius and across from James at their little table.  
  
"Good. We were wondering weither you got the owl or not." Said James.  
  
"Sorry. So how was everyone's holidays?" Sirius and James groaned. "What, was it something I said?"  
  
"Yes, I think it was the word 'holidays'." Responded James sourly. Lily cocked an eyebrow.  
  
"Why, what happened?" She asked with concern.  
  
"Ugh, I don't want to talk about it." And with that Sirius turned his head and saw a lovely blonde sitting at the bar. She was absolutely gorgeous.  
  
"Hey James, look at that girl over there. Damn she is hot. She's looking over here!" Sure enough, the blonde was looking directly at the two mauderers. To Sirius and James's luck, she smiled at them. "See that, she smiled at you!"  
  
"She didn't smile at me, she smiled at you!" Protested James.  
  
"Frankly I think its blatantly obvious that she was smiling at me." Said Lily. "She must know about your gigantic willy." Said James jokingly. Lily played along.  
  
"Damn straight."  
  
"Go talk to her!" Sirius exclaimed.  
  
"Nah," replied James, "she's not my type."  
  
"But she's hot! How can you tell if she's not your type if you haven't even met her?" Asked Sirius.  
  
"I'm not the kind of guy who would pick up a woman at a bar anymore." Said James. Sirius went quiet and wondered why he wouldn't approach the girl at the bar. James quickly tilted his head towards Lily's general direction. Lily looked at the two men curiously.  
  
"Um.what's going on?" She asked.  
  
"We're imagining you naked in our heads." Said Sirius with a smirk.  
  
"Oh fuck off." Said Lily. "Was that what you were really doing?"  
  
"Oh come now Lily, you don't think we're that thick, do you?" Asked James.  
  
"Prongs I need to talk to you in private." Sirius glared at James and the two men left the table leaving Lily to ponder what was really going on.  
  
Sirius pulled James into one of the empty corners of the bar so Lily wouldn't hear. "Prongs what the hell is the matter with you? You and Lily broke up a long time ago! Its time to get over it already and move on. Look at her! Lily's already got- -"  
  
"Don't even say his name or I think a may puke." Warned James. Sirius obliged and sighed.  
  
"James, what happened to you? We used to have so much fun. Now you're always depressed." Said Sirius.  
  
"Well wouldn't you be too?" Asked James starting to get angry. "I loved her. I always have. I changed for her, I became a better person for her. But that obviously wasn't good enough for her. Look what she did; she dumped me! She broke my heart and doesn't even seem to care.  
  
"Over the summer I kept telling myself that I'd be okay and I'll move on. But then I saw her again and all of the old feelings came rushing back." James stopped and Sirius looked deep into his eyes. He saw the look of desperation and disappointment on his face. Suddenly, he knew how he felt. All of those years at Hogwarts playing pranks on Lily and teasing Lily, he was just trying to win her over. "I still love her." Said James almost in a whisper. There was a few moments of silence before James blurted out "I need to get laid." Sirius and James laughed.  
  
"Yes you do mate." Said Sirius patting him on the back. "And you can if you just go and talk to that girl." James looked at the girl once more and smiled.  
  
"Time to turn on that old Potter charm." Said James gleefully as he trodded over to the bar and sat next to the blonde. Sirius sat back down with Lily.  
  
"He's doing it?" She asked. Sirius nodded.  
  
"That man needs to get laid. Its been too long." Said Sirius.  
  
"Shh! I want to try and hear them!"  
  
"I'm James Potter." Said James suavely smiling and holding out his hand.  
  
"Georgia." Said the blonde shaking his hand. James took her hand and kissed it.  
  
"What a lovely name for a lovely woman." Georgia giggled.  
  
About twenty minutes later, Georgia left the Leaky Cauldron and James returned to his friends looking happier than ever. "So how'd it go?" Asked Lily.  
  
"Well, it turns out that she was smiling at Sirius but that's okay because she said I caught her eye first."  
  
"What can I say, the Blacks are known for their ridiculously good looks." Interjected Sirius.  
  
"What's her name?" Asked Lily.  
  
"Georgia Shaw, and she's a secretary at the Ministry of Magic." Said James. "Anyways, we started talking and I asked her out on a date."  
  
"All right Prongs! Good for you!" Exclaimed Sirius.  
  
"Then she suggested that she hook you up with her friend Kristin and we all go on a double date together Saturday." Said James.  
  
"Is she hot?" Questioned Sirius.  
  
"From what Georgia said about her, yes."  
  
"I'm in."  
  
"Hey, what about me?" Inquired Lily.  
  
"What about you?" Responded James.  
  
"Why can't we make it a triple date? I could bring Amos along and we could all have a good time together." Suggested Lily. Sirius looked at James who had been hiding his annoyance quite well.  
  
"Well, sure I guess. But I would have to owl Georgia and let her know and ask if its alright with her." Said James.  
  
"Great, so its like a threesome?" Joked Sirius.  
  
"Unless it envolves half of us having sex afterwards then no, it is nothing like a threesome. I think the word you're searching for is 'Triple Date'." Said James.  
  
"But a Triple Date is kind of like a threesome! Besides, it sounds cooler if you say that you're having a threesome Saturday night when someone asks if you're busy or not." Sirius smirked and Lily and James laughed. A threesome it was.  
  
~*~  
  
The next day after a particularly boring class of Auror training (How to remember the proper encantation in a dangerous situation), James owled Georgia asking if his friend Lily and her boyfriend could come along with them. To James's dismay, she replied "The more the merrier" and told Lily. Lily was excited and ran off to tell Amos the news. James then scolded himself for not pretending that Georgia had said no.  
  
Saturday night approached before they knew it and Lily was sitting in the boy's living room ready to go waiting for her two friends. "Come on!" She shouted. "You two are even worse than me." Sirius and James came into the living room looking very handsome and ready for their "threesome".  
  
"Merlin, she moves next-door and already its like we're married to her." Complained Sirius. James thought to himself that he didn't half mind that she stopped by all of the time. Every man could use a woman's touch in life.  
  
"Well if that what it takes to get out of here on time, then so be it. But I do have to admit that you two do look good tonight." Both of them smiled.  
  
"Hey, do I smell alright to you?" Asked James.  
  
"I don't know, come here so I can get a wiff." James walked up to Lily and bent down so Lily could smell where he had put the cologne on his neck. "Mmm." She replied. "Smells good."  
  
"Lily, I'm expecting to get laid tonight. Do I look like I'm trying too hard?" Asked Sirius.  
  
"You look fine. I guess you don't mind having me around all of the time now, do you?"  
  
"How could we live without you Lily? You're our personal dating guide. Now all you have to do is cook and clean for us and we'll be all set!" Said James. Sirius gave him a high five.  
  
"The sad thing is that I do that already. I can't help it if I'm motherly. It will come in handy when I'm a mother." Said Lily.  
  
"Oh and do you expect to have Mr. Diggory's little babies or perhaps you'd prefer a little Sirius Jr?" James's blood boiled at the thought of Amos or Sirius impregnating Lily.  
  
"Never in this life will I have your baby Sirius. And how dare you even think of impregnating me!"  
  
"Don't worry Lily, I could never stand a child who nags as much as you do. And I mean that in the nicest way possible." Lily shook her head.  
  
"Come on. We better be going." Lily dissapperated to the restaurant with a pop and just before Sirius followed he said "Besides, if I ever do knock her up it probably wouldn't be on purpose." Sirius winked and dissapperated. James laughed and caught up with his friends at the restaurant.  
  
"James!" Called out Georgia. She was wearing tight leather pants and a tiny tank top. The restaurant they chose was an Indian Cuisine place so they didn't have to be too dressy. "Hey!" Said James walking to her. He gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. They walked over to a table where Lily, Amos, Sirius, and raven-haired beauty, he assumed was Kristin, were all sitting. "Kristin, this is James Potter. James, Kristin Jones."  
  
"Nice to meet you James. Come sit down already! It feels like we've been waiting for ages!" Said Kristin happily. James sat down between Lily, who was next to Amos, and Georgia, who was on the other side of Sirius.  
  
"Amos, you remember James from the party I assume." Said Lily turning to Amos.  
  
"Not quite. Where you the one who took off your shirt and starting acting like a raving lunatic?" He asked.  
  
"No actually that was my friend Peter." Responded James.  
  
"Oh." Said Amos abruptly.  
  
"James was Head Boy back in Hogwarts." Said Lily trying to lighten the tension between the two men.  
  
"Ooh, James you were? That's so great of you!" Exclaimed Georgia who had started to rub his arm.  
  
"Um, thanks, I think." Said James not really sure of how to respond.  
  
"Yeah, we were all really surprised when he got it because he was one of the biggest trouble makers in the school next to yours truly of course." Said Sirius putting his arm around Kristin. Kristin "accidentally" moved her arm and knocked his arm off of the back of her chair.  
  
"Oops." She said. "Sorry."  
  
"No worries." Replied Sirius.  
  
"You were a trouble maker, eh? Oh, now I remember! Potter! You used to play Quidditch on the Gryffindor team, right?" Inquired Amos.  
  
"Ever since my third year."  
  
"I remember you from a few games. I was the Hufflepuff beater, and you were a keeper?"  
  
"A Chaser."  
  
"Oh, sorry if I knocked a few bludgers into you then." Said Amos not sounding one bit apologetic.  
  
"That's alright. Its part of the game."  
  
"Tell me, why was it that you didn't pursue Quidditch as a career when you graduated? Lily told me that you were very talented on a broom." James felt extremely flattered that Lily had spoken so highly of his Quidditch talents to her new boyfriend.  
  
"Well, I did consider it and I had the chance to travel around with one of Great Britain's top teams but I wanted to do something more in my life than Quidditch. So that's why I began Auror Training."  
  
"Well in this day and age you must be very brave to become an Auror. Not that I'm questioning your bravery."  
  
"Yes, you do have to be brave to become an Auror."  
  
"Mmm, James, bravery is so sexy." Said Georgia downing her second glass of wine. She began to kiss James's neck softly and for some odd reason, Lily had the tiniest urge to go and blast Georgia into 10000 tiny pieces. The urge soon passed when she realized that slutty secretaries that hang around in pubs are never the greatest dates, even for gits like James.  
  
~*~  
  
The heated conversations didn't stop there. It seemed like Amos was testing him for something or trying to get something out of him. James felt like he had committed a crime and was being interrogated by the Ministry. Meanwhile, Georgia had doubled her alcohol consumption and was flirting with Sirius. James started to realize why he had met Georgia at a bar at noon. Lily had soon given up on trying to make nice small talk and was now discussing muggle literature with Kristin who happened to have a muggle grandmother who force fed her everything in the muggle world. They were discussing an author named Dickens and the two girls seemed to be having a good time.  
  
"You know they say that beaters are the most important players in a game. They also happen to say that the Chasers are some of the least talented out on the field." Stated Amos cockily.  
  
"Now wait just one minute.!" James began.  
  
"I love all of the symbolism he uses throughout his novels." (A/N: I'm making this up. I wouldn't know symbolism in Dickens if it bit me in the ass. oh wait, the wine in A Tale of Two Cities was symbolic for blood! Haha beat that Ms. Sohn!) Said Lily.  
  
"There's no way that Ludo Bagman could ever become Minister of Magic when he retires! That man is a bloody idiot!" Shouted James at Amos.  
  
"Mmm, do you know what I want to do to you right now?" Asked Georgia slurring half of her words.  
  
"What?" Asked Sirius. Georgia began to whisper pretty nothings into his ear and a grin spread across his face. "One minute G." He said to Georgia who looked some what disappointed. Sirius got up and pulled James aside, which was good for him because he looked like he was about to kill Amos Diggory right there at the table.  
  
"Hey James, do you mind if I bring G back to the flat for the night?" Questioned Sirius.  
  
"Uh?" Asked James not even paying attention to what his best friend was saying.  
  
"Would you mind if you stayed at Lily's for the night or something? I want to bring Georgia back to the flat."  
  
"But I thought Georgia was my date." Said James.  
  
"She is your date. That's why I'm asking you."  
  
"Do whatever you want. I sure hope Lily doesn't mind me crashing on her couch."  
  
"Thanks Prongs. Hey, when you bring someone home, I'll go sleep at Lily's."  
  
"Yeah right, like I'm ever going to bring someone home."  
  
"What about Kristin? She's nice." Suggested Sirius.  
  
"I don't know. I'm not in the mood. You better get going or I think Georgia might jump on top of you right here." Sirius grinned.  
  
"You know, that might not be so bad if you think about it."  
  
"Sirius, I don't want to think about it. Now get out of her already."  
  
A few minutes later, Sirius and Georgia were on their way back to the flat and James felt like once again he was in the hot seat. Lily noticed the ever rising tension between her boyfriend and her friend and decided to put an end to it. "Oh, look at the time! I've got a job interview in the morning. James, don't you think its time you be getting home too?"  
  
"Uh yeah, I have to go over to my mum's place to help her with some stuff." Said James thinking of a quick excuse.  
  
"Nice meeting you Kristin. We should get together some time."  
  
"Okay, I'll owl you tomorrow or something." Said Kristin  
  
"Sounds great to me!" The two girls hugged and Lily turned to Amos and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "We really must be going. I had a great time. I'll talk to you later Amos. James, aren't you going to say goodbye?" She asked turning to him.  
  
"Diggory, it was nice talking with you. Nice meeting you Kristin." And with a loud pop, Lily and James in the hallway by Lily's door.  
  
"What was your problem tonight?!" She exclaimed taking out her keys and opening the door.  
  
"My problem, don't you mean his problem. You were there! He was absolutely ruthless!" Argued James as he followed Lily inside.  
  
"Well that's just his personality." She said putting down her pocket book.  
  
"So you mean to tell me that he's like that all the time and you're still attracted to him?" Asked James.  
  
"Not all of the time and yes I'm attracted to him but for other reasons." Said Lily.  
  
"Oh like what, his important job at the Ministry? His family? Or is it his big- -" Shouted James.  
  
"That's enough of that! Besides, how would I know? I haven't slept with him yet."  
  
"Yet?!" Yelled James. Lily sighed.  
  
"James will you just please shut up?"  
  
"No I will not."  
  
"Fine then, would you like to know the real reason that Amos was acting like that? He's jealous of you, alright?" James was stunned. Here he was being jealous of him for being with the girl of his dreams, and Diggory was jealous of him?  
  
"Jealous of me? Why?"  
  
"He's jealous because he knows that you where my first real boyfriend and that you're still in my life. He's jealous because he knows that when I'm not with him, I'm with you or Sirius. He think you still have feelings for me James." Lily laughed.  
  
"What's so funny?"  
  
"Amos thinking that you still have feelings for me. That's not true.right?" James gulped. Right now he could tell Lily everything. Now was the moment of truth. James forced a laugh.  
  
"Of course its not true! We broke up ages ago!" Exclaimed James trying to be the best actor he could be. Lily laughed.  
  
"That's exactly what I told him." Lily smiled and James smiled back. He had the sudden urge to hold her in his arms and hug her tight but he resisted and settled for a smile. "So do you need a place to sleep since I assumed that Sirius screwing that Georgia girl?" James nodded and Lily reached under the couch and pulled out a pillow and a few blankets. "I wish I had a nightshirt or something to give you but it looks like you're going to have to sleep in your cloths."  
  
"Lily, are you forgetting that I'm a full pledged wizard? I can just conjure up a pair of sweat pants and an undershirt. I'll spare you the glory of me sleeping in the nude."  
  
"Mmm, don't make me excited just before I go to bed." She joked. "Well, goodnight."  
  
"Goodnight." He said quietly. Lily blew out the last candle in the room and headed off to her room. And James had the best sleep of his life knowing that Diggory was back at his house being jealous of him.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
I finished this so quick I'm even surprised! Let's all hope that 10 comes out just as quick! (But don't expect anything too soon). Now its that time at the end of a chapter where you click the little review button. Go ahead. Click away. *click click* 


	10. Groping and Grieving

I'm sad to say that I have a hint of writer's block for this chapter so I'm watching 10 Things I Hate About You for a little needed inspiration. I also have a picture of the 15" PowerBook in front of me for that little bit of motivation that always helps. (  
  
Btw, I definitely recommend the Georgia Nicolson Books by Louisa Rennison. They're fantastic. I'm starting to think that I should've been British seeing as every book I enjoy seems to be written by an English writer (Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging: Confessions of Georgia Nicolson, Harry Potter [of course], and A Tale of Two Cities [I admit, it was a good book and I enjoyed it]).  
  
Only five chapter left after this!! (And I already have the last two written!)  
  
Enjoy!  
  
hello there; the angel from my nightmare the shadow in the background of the morgue. The unsuspecting victim of darkness in the valley, we can live like jack and sally if we want, where u can always find me. And we'll have halloween on Christmas. And in the night we wish this never ends. We'll wish this never ends  
  
"I Miss You" blink-182  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Again 10  
  
Groping and Grieving  
  
It was an early April morning in London. The flowers were just starting to bloom and life was beginning to return after the long, cold winter. Wizards and muggles alike were all enjoying the glorious weather that had been bestowed upon them.  
  
Sirius, Lily, and James were all walking around muggle London after a day of lectures and demonstrations on how to properly file paperwork. James sighed. "When are we going to learn how to become *real* Aurors? All of this paperwork crap is going to be the least of our worries."  
  
"It takes time James, McKibbon said that within the next month or so we're going to be able to go out and do some field work." Said Lily in her lavender sundress.  
  
~*~  
  
James's eyes fluttered as the morning sunlight poured into his bedroom. He began stretching in his bed before he got up and hit a big lumpy thing with his arm. He moved his arm in the same direction and once again hit the big lumpy thing. James groaned with pain as he sat up and put on his glasses. His head was killing him. He must've had a hangover. James sighed in pain and looked over to his left. James was shocked at what he saw. There was Kristin lying there wearing nothing but a sheet over her naked body. James looked down at himself and realized he was in his birthday suit as well.  
  
This could not get worse...but of course, it did.  
  
Lily Evans in her dressing gown pulled open the door and entered James's tiny bedroom unaware of the nudity around her.  
  
"Hey James I was wondering if- -OH MY GOD!"  
  
"Uh, hi Lily."  
  
"James what the...Who's with...WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?" James quickly got out of his bed, worsening his hangover, and tried to calm Lily.  
  
"Lily, sweetie, you're over reacting. Now just calm down."  
  
"How can I calm down when you're walking around with your dick flopping about? I don't want to see that!" Cried Lily with her hand over her eyes. James grabbed the closest article of clothing, a shirt his mother bought him for Christmas, and hid his "how's your father".  
  
"There, its all covered. You can look now." Lily removed her hand and looked around the room. There were discarded cloths everywhere.  
  
"James?" Called a groggy voice from his bed. James turned around and saw Kristin sit up. Lily gasped.  
  
"Kristin!? What the hell are you doing in James's bed?" Exclaimed Lily. Kristin groaned. "Well, answer me!"  
  
"Lily, I think it'd be better for you to come back in about 15 minutes. Now what was it that you came over for besides to ruin my morning?" Asked James.  
  
"Well I wanted to borrow some of those hangover pills you gave me back in September. I didn't expect to see two of my best friends naked!!" Yelled Lily. James groaned.  
  
"For someone with a hangover, you're doing a lot of yelling."  
  
"Yeah, well in situations like this, yelling is necessary. Listen I just want to get the pills and leave so I can try and get all of this nudity out of my head. Where are they?" Asked Lily.  
  
"In the medicine cabinet in the bathroom." Replied James.  
  
"Thanks." Said Lily leaving the room. She walked down the tiny hallway and opened the door to the even tinier bathroom where Sirius Black was taking his morning leak. He looked over his shoulder and smiled.  
  
"Morning Lily!" He said cheerily. Lily yelled in frustration "WHY IS EVERYONE NAKED THIS MORNING!?" She grabbed the container of pills from the open medicine cabinet, and walked into the living room and out the door back to her own flat.  
  
~*~  
  
About a half hour later while Lily was writing a letter to her mother thanking her for the birthday gifts, Kristin, who thankfully was fully dressed, entered her flat. Lily looked up at her and began to walk to her room.  
  
"Lily, I know you're upset with me. I just want to know why." Said Kristin. Lily turned and rounded on her brunette friend.  
  
"You want to know why? I'll tell you why. You slept with James!" Exclaimed a very blunt Lily.  
  
"So? Yeah, okay, I slept with him. Big deal? Its not like he has a girlfriend or anything."  
  
"But you slept with James Potter! The biggest man whore ever to graduate Hogwarts next to Sirius!"  
  
"So? You did too!" Shouted Kristin.  
  
"I did not!" Exclaimed Lily. "For your information, I'm still a virgin."  
  
"Oh. Well then.... But I still don't see how what I did was wrong. We just slept together. It's a one-night stand. They happen."  
  
"But you slept with James. My friend James."  
  
"He's mine friend too! I wouldn't get this angry if you had slept with Sirius."  
  
"That's different."  
  
"How is that different?  
  
"Because James is *my* boyfriend that's why!" Shouted Lily then immediately turned a bright red. She didn't expect that to ever penetrate her mouth and she hoped that a pink suade elephant would suddenly appear to draw some attention off of her big mouth. Kristin smiled  
  
"Ohhh...I see now." Said Kristin slowly.  
  
"What?" Asked Lily defensively.  
  
"It all makes sense now." Responded Kristin. "You still have some feelings for him and still see him as yours."  
  
"No, that's not it at all."  
  
"Yes it is. You just think that since he hasn't been with anyone since you he would just tag along with you and act as your stand in boyfriend if you were single."  
  
"No." Said Lily trying to defend herself and failing miserably.  
  
"That's exactly what it is. You still have feelings for him and can't let him go." Said Kristin matter of fact-ly.  
  
"No its not!" Shouted Lily. Kristin stood there and looked at her friend.  
  
"I'm not going to stand here and be criticized by you anymore Lily. I'm going back to my place and if you want to talk like a civilized person sometime soon, owl me. But until then, don't even bother." Kristin turned around and closed the door. Lily plopped down on her couch. What had she just done? It was only 10 am and already she had seen three of her friends in the nude and yelled at all of them. Lily sighed. "Happy Birthday, Lily. 19 must be your bitchy age."  
  
~*~  
  
A week passed and Lily still had not patched things up with Kristin yet. Neither James, Sirius, nor Lily had heard any word of her since the day after Lily's birthday. The three were walking home after a night at a nearby club. They had all drank a little too much and none of them felt comfortable walking home. Lily sighed.  
  
"I feel bad." She said.  
  
"Why?" Asked Sirius. "It's a lovely April night and I meet four gorgeous women tonight. What could possibly make you feel bad?"  
  
"Kristin." Said Lily heavily.  
  
"Lily, if you want to make up with her, let just stop by her place so you can apologize." Suggested James. He really liked Kristin as a friend and didn't want to loose her just because he slept with her.  
  
"Apologize for what? I did nothing wrong!" Exclaimed Lily knowing that was wrong and that she should apologize.  
  
"Why must you be so stubborn?" Asked James with a smile. Lily smiled back. You know, he really does have a handsome face, Lily thought to herself.  
  
"Fine, I'll do it. But you two have to come with me to hold me back just in case I have the urge to scold her again." Demanded Lily.  
  
"Fine, I just want to get home already. I'm tired as all hell." Said Sirius yawning.  
  
"Come on." Said Lily. Luckily, Kristin's flat was only a few blocks out of the way. The trio walked all the way to her place and entered her old building. The building looked very much like the building Lily, James, and Sirius lived in. When they reached Kristin's door on the fifth floor and top floor, Lily knocked apprehensively. There was no answer. Lily knocked again. Again, there was no answer.  
  
"Hmm, she must be asleep. Oh well, I guess we'll just have to go home!" Exclaimed Lily trying to head for the stairs but unfortunately, she was blocked by James.  
  
"Wait just a minute. We didn't come all this way just so you could knock on the door. I say we apperate inside. I'm sure she won't mind the extra company." Said James. Lily sighed.  
  
"Fine." She said angrily. And with a pop all three of them apperated into Kristin's flat.  
  
"Holy shit, what smells?" Questioned Sirius with his hand over his nose. Lily looked around the flat and procedded to look for Kristin.  
  
"Kris?" She called out hoping someone would answer.  
  
"Yeah. It smells like something died in here." Said James desperately trying not to inhale the foul odor. Lily sulked silently and back into the room where James and Sirius were waiting for her. The color was drained from her usually bright face and there was no blissful smile or happy expression on her face.  
  
"Something did die. Kristin."  
  
~*~  
  
Sirius and James were sitting in the Atrium of the Ministry of Magic silently waiting for the Ministry official by the name of Darcy Unger to inform them of what the people at St. Mungo's had found. He told them to go to the Ministry and stay in the Atrium and wait for him to get back. Two and a half hours later, the three of them were still there waiting and waiting. Sirius sighed.  
  
"How much longer is this going to be? I'm one second away from conjuring up a bed and camping out right here in the Atrium." Threatened Sirius.  
  
"It shouldn't be much longer now. Hey, have you seen Lily?" Asked James.  
  
"Didn't she go for a walk a little while ago?"  
  
"Yeah, I think so. I'm gonna go find her. Its late. Who knows what trouble she could get into at this hour of night?" Said James leaving his seat. He started walking and rounded a short corridor when he found Lily slumped against a wall with a sad look in her eyes. She was crying.  
  
James felt somewhat awkward and didn't know if he should just go waltzing up to her or kindly leave her at peace. Just as James was turning around to head back over to Sirius, he heard a soft voice call his name. He rounded on Lily. "Hi."  
  
"Hi." Said Lily sniffing loudly.  
  
"Are you okay?" Asked James as he approached her. Lily rubbed her emerald green eyes.  
  
"Yeah, I'll be fine. Don't worry about me. Go back with Sirius."  
  
"No, I don't want you to be alone." James slid down next to her. Lily laughed quietly.  
  
"I feel so stupid crying." She said with a bit of a smile.  
  
"Don't feel stupid." Said James wrapping her in a tight hug. "I'm sad too. Kristin was a great person."  
  
"But I feel so horrible for telling her off for sleeping with you. I should've just respected her opinion and gotten on with my life." Stated Lily.  
  
"Lily, believe me, you are far from horrible. You're the most wonderful person I know." Said James honestly.  
  
"James...don't say things like that if you're just trying to make me feel better because it's not going to work."  
  
"I'm not just saying it. I really mean it." Replied James sincerely. By now there wasn't an inch between their faces. Both of them were looking deep into each other's eyes.  
  
"You mean it?" Asked Lily almost inaudibly. James nodded. He tried to control himself but he couldn't help it. He leaned in and kissed Lily softly on her lips. He half expected her to slap him but he wasn't prepared as to what Lily was starting to do. She started kissing back.  
  
James tenderly pried her lips open and slid the top of his tongue in. He started to move his hands down her arms on to her waist. Suddenly he heard Sirius's voice.  
  
"James? Lily? Are you two down here?" Lily sighed and rubbed her temples. James was still breathless but quickly tried to regain his normal stature. Sirius approached to two and eyed them curiously.  
  
"And just what were the two of you doing?" Questioned Sirius cocking an eyebrow.  
  
"Use your imagination." Taunted Lily. Sirius closed his eyes and grinned from ear to ear. "Mmm." He moaned.  
  
"Alright that's enough! No more of that. Fantasize about me on your own spare time." She said pushing Sirius to the Atrium  
  
"Oh I will." Said Sirius with a wink. James chuckled and followed but still thinking about that kiss. Lily acted like nothing even happened. Not even the slightest reaction. Was it a good kiss or had he loose his touch? Kristin didn't complain. Kristin.... Thoughts of Kristin started to run through his head. She was gone and she was never coming back. Never.  
  
No more late nights with the four of them. No more scoffing at Fudge's inability to be a proper minister without Dumbledore's help. No more Kristin.  
  
"Hey," called Sirius from the Atrium, "the guy's here! Hurry up Prongs!" James jogged down the corridor and joined Lily and Sirius who were gathered around Darcy Unger with a clipboard in his hands.  
  
"Well, we have the report on your friend."  
  
"And...?" Asked Sirius impatiently.  
  
"It was the killing curse that did her in. They say it was self inflicted if you catch my drift." Said the ministry official.  
  
"What? That's insane! Kristin NEVER would never commit suicide." Exclaimed Lily.  
  
"That's what the reports said, miss." Said Unger.  
  
"What about the wand?" Asked Sirius. "Couldn't they just find out the last spell that was used and decide from there?"  
  
"They did and they found Avada Kedavra." Replied Unger.  
  
"Read to us exactly what the report says." Demanded James.  
  
"Oh, and who are you to be ordering me around?" Asked an annoyed Unger.  
  
"James Potter, Nicolas Potter's son." James cringed slightly. He hated using his father's identity for his own benifet. But this was different. This was to help Lily.  
  
"Nick's son?" Ugner asked. "He was a good man. I knew him just before he died." Unger sighed. "If you three promise to go home when I'm done I will."  
  
He cleared his throat and began to dictate Kristin's report. Lily wasn't paying full attention, as she should have been, but instead was focused on the man coming into the building. There were two very striking things about this man. One being that he was entering the Ministry of Magic through the main entrance at 1 am and that he had long blonde-white hair, cold gray eyes, and was dressed head to toe in black robes.  
  
The man swiftly entered the building and walked to where ever he was going. Lily couldn't help but stare at the man. She didn't notice anything else around her including James tapping on her shoulder trying to regain her attention. As the man passed by across the Atrium, he fixed his cold gray eyes on Lily. He sneared and stared at Lily as he walked parallel to her and her group of friends until he started a conversation with the security wizard that kept an eye on things. While Lily was watching the man pass by only moments before, she couldn't help but focus on his wand. Although it appeared to be a regular Ollivalander wand, there was something about that she just couldn't let go of.  
  
"What if someone else did it?" Asked Lily suddenly. Unger, Sirius, and James all looked at her. "What if someone else got a hold of her wand and used it?" Unger laughed.  
  
"Why that's ridiculous! Are you proposing that someone would apperate into this woman's flat, steal her wand, and kill her? You haven't even got a proper motive or suspect for that manner!" Unger laughed once more, enraging Lily.  
  
"Listen to me! Something's not right about this! There's more to it than it appears. Get some Aurors or something over there and dust the wand for finger prints!" The three men all looked at each other and back at Lily. Lily sighed exasperatedly.  
  
"It's a muggle thing they do to find out who's touched something." Explained Lily.  
  
"Ohhh." Said all three men.  
  
"Listen," started Unger started to get frustrated with the three teens, "its late. I have a family of my own to get home to. Now maybe if you come up with some reasonable evidence or something shows up that proves your theory the ministry can do something about it. But as of now, the case is closed. I advise you three to go home and get some sleep. 'Night." And with a loud snap Ministry official Darcy Unger dissapperated into the night. Lily groaned in frustration. Sirius sighed.  
  
"James, Lily, I'll meet you home. I need to get some sleep." James nodded and stayed behind with Lily. He wanted to ask her about the kiss. Lily had other things on her mind.  
  
"James, come here." She said. James obliged and went to her side. "Look at that man in the black." She whispered in his ear. The man she was watching before was now boarding the lift.  
  
"With the blonde hair?" Asked James quietly. Lily nodded. "Yeah."  
  
"Do you get the feeling that he might be more than just a ministry employee?" She asked.  
  
"Yeah, I get that feeling too." The elevator doors closed and the man with the cold gray eyes headed farther and farther underground.  
  
"I think that Kristin was murdered by a Death Eater for being half muggle." Stated Lily. "I know it might seem crazy but..."  
  
"No, I think you're absolutely right." Said James. "C'mon, lets head home."  
  
He had noticed the young red head staring at him and her friend with the messy hair and glasses. He knew exactly who he was and could easily figure out who the woman was.  
  
"Filthy little mudblood." Sneared Lucius Malfoy.  
  
~~  
  
OMG I AM SO INCREADABLY SORRY ABOUT THE WAIT!!! I swear it will never happen again! I was home sick today and I was looking through my hard drive and I found this and I thought I submitted this but I never did!! I feel so bad! Well, at least its up now! Once again, I'm so sorry for the wait but I hope this chapter was good. I wrote this story in pieces and I just reviewed it and I'm hoping I didn't leave out a part. If you have any questions, review the story and leave your question there. I'll get it in my e-mail. Thanks!  
  
Now its that time where you make the writer very happy ( 


	11. The First Defiance

Again 11  
  
A/N: So so so sry for the long wait!!!  
  
**The First Defiance**  
  
The funeral came and went as expected. Lily, Sirius, and James all went along with Kristin's family and friends. Everyone there cried, including James. After all, he had slept with her. Sirius denied crying but James was pretty sure he saw Sirius wipe away a tear or too during the eulogy.  
  
About a month or so passed without much of anything happening. The weather continued to get better and brighter as each day passed. James desperately tried to talk to Lily about what had happened that night in the Atrium but unfortunately he never had the time. Auror training was becoming particularly vigorous.  
  
Marlene McKibbon explained the day before that today they were to go on their first field training. All of them had passed their written part of the 1st year, now it was on to the hard stuff. The physical stuff where you have to be quick thinking otherwise you might put yourself in more trouble than intended. Or worse, get innocent people hurt in the process. They were to meet on busy street in London, not too far away from the Leaky Cauldron and inspect any unusual activity. Experienced Aurors weren't far away so just in case anything happened to the trainees, no one would get hurt. Sirius, James, and Lily were grouped together and stood at their street corner waiting for anything to happen.  
  
"Screw this." Said Sirius completely fed up.  
  
"Sirius, be sensible." Said Lily trying her best to keep Sirius in line. They had been waiting there for three hours for anyone suspicious looking to walk by. So far, the only suspicious thing around them was a poodle that barked 10 minutes to the hour, every hour.  
  
"But this is pure bullshit! All we're doing is standing here. Nothing is happening, nor will anything ever happen! I'm going to the Leaky Cauldron for a drink. Coming Prongs?" Asked Sirius. James looked at Lily and then to his friend.  
  
"Um, maybe some other time." Said James hoping he could finally get a chance to speak with Lily.  
  
"Suits yourself." Sirius walked off towards the direction of the Leaky Cauldron. James had his chance. He looked over to Lily one more time. She looked just as beautiful as ever with her hair tied back in a bun and her hands in her jeans jacket that she wore over her red tank top.  
  
"So..." started James trying his best to make small talk, "how's Amos?" Lily turned to James looking surprised that he would mention someone he loathed so much.  
  
"Good, good. Amos is good." Said Lily briskly. James nodded his head.  
  
"Good. That's good." There was an awkward silence. James scolded himself for asking something so stupid. "Listen Lily, we have got to talk."  
  
"What's there to talk about?" Asked Lily.  
  
"Remember that thing...what happened that night...?"  
  
"James, I haven't the slightest idea as to what you're talking about."  
  
"You know damn well what I'm talking about!" Shouted James feeling very frustrated. "The kiss!"  
  
"Oh...that." Said Lily timidly.  
  
"Yeah, that." Said James feeling very annoyed that she would refer to their encounter as 'that'.  
  
"What about it?"  
  
"Lily, didn't you feel anything? That kiss...it was the best kiss of my life! It's the kind of stuff you read about and hope that one day you'll be lucky enough to experience. And you haven't spoke one word about it ever! You just act like it was a common handshake or a hug!"  
  
"James it was just a simple kiss." James sighed in frustration but Lily continued. "Both of us were feeling down that night and it just happened. That's all. I'm sorry that you hold this in such high regard." Said Lily trying her best not to sound too harsh. What she really wanted to tell him was that she did think the kiss was amazing. That it was the most electrifying passionate kiss she had ever had. But she couldn't. She had spent the last month convincing herself that it meant nothing to her. She was with Amos, she told herself everytime she found herself thinking about James. She was with Amos.  
  
"If it was just some trivial thing that meant NOTHING to you let me kiss you right here, right now." Said James inching closer to Lily. Lily wanted to back away but she couldn't. James leaned down and kissed her right there in the middle of the street corner. Lily felt her knees go weak and gently grabbed on to James's shirt to keep herself from falling over. James grabbed her hands.  
  
"Tell me you didn't feel anything. Look me straight in the eye Lily." Lily was at a lost for words as James stared deep into her eyes. She shook her head.  
  
"I didn't feel anything." Lied Lily looking directly into his dark brown eyes. For a moment, she could have sworn she saw tears welling up. He let go of her hands and walked sulkily down the street into a dark alleyway. Lily wiped away the salty tears that had begun to fall down her soft face and jogged after him. "James! Come back!" Shouted Lily. Sirius bumped into Lily with a cup of coffee.  
  
"What happened?" Asked Sirius.  
  
"It's nothing...James ran off down there." Said Lily pointing.  
  
"Well come on then." The two turned the corner into the alleyway and were immediately surrounded by dozens of people in white masks and black cloaks.  
  
"Well, well, well what do we have here?" Asked a cold dark sinister voice. Neither Lily nor Sirius could tell whether it was a man or some type of foul creature. They both looked up to see the horrifying face of Lord Voldemort. Lily turned her head to see James trying his best to duel with half a dozen Death Eaters.  
  
"James!" Cried Lily. James turned his head for a moment and barely dodged a stunning spell.  
  
"Aw, does this mudblood want her boyfriend back?" Lily pulled out her wand quickly and pointed it at Voldemort.  
  
"Expelliarmus!" Shouted Lily disarming Lord Voldemort at once. She ran over to James to try and help him out leaving Sirius to fight off Lord Voldemort.  
  
"Stupefy!" Yelled Sirius barely stunning his enemy.  
  
"Petrificus Totalus!" Shouted Lily at a Death Eater facing James.  
  
"Lily, get out of here!" He shouted between spells.  
  
"Stupefy!" Shouted Lily at another Death Eater. "No! I can't leave you here!" Lily backed up against James to try and duel with some more Death Eaters.  
  
"Avada Kedavra!" Shouted a Death Eater at both James and Lily. The two of them ducked just in time. Spells were flying everywhere. When the crowd of Death Eaters that surrounded James and Lily were all taken care of, James and Lily ran over to try and help out Sirius as best as they could. As they were running Lily had a perfect shot of the Dark Lord's back and almost hit him with a stunning spell. He turned around and scowled.  
  
Lily tripped and fell and did not hear the cry of "Crucio!" From Lord Voldemort. James saw that the spell was headed straight for her and managed to jump in front of her just in time. James received full blast of the curse and screamed with pain. He fell on his side with a loud thump. Lily saw the whole thing and crawled immediately towards James. Voldemort cackled with laughter. "Seems as if I've down enough damage here."  
  
"What have you done to him?!" Shouted Lily almost in tears fearing the worst.  
  
"Never you mind you foolish girl. You should've have gone meddling in affairs you have no business in!" Said Voldemort, and with that he and the remaining Death Eaters dissapperated. Lily clutched James's lifeless body in her feeble hands trying her best to wake him up.  
  
"Lily, we're going to have to get him to St Mungo's. Mobilicorpus." Said Sirius making James's body move on its own.  
  
-----  
  
Hours later James was lying unconscious in a hospital bed in St. Mungo's Hospital for Injuries and Magical Maladies. Lily was sitting at his bedside for any sign of movement. The healers did not know when, or if, he was going to wake up. Sirius walked into the room and over to Lily offering her a cup of coffee looking low. She took a sip of her warm coffee.  
  
"Lily you should go home. The healers said that they'd contact us if anything happens." Said Sirius putting a comforting hand on her back. Lily shook her head.  
  
"No. I want to stay here." Stated Lily determinedly.  
  
"Lily he could be in this condition for weeks!" Said Sirius.  
  
"I don't care how long he's in here. I just want him to be okay." Said Lily looking at James. Sirius sighed. He knew there was no way to sway her.  
  
"Let me know if anything happens?" Asked Sirius. Lily nodded.  
  
"Don't worry. I know James, he'll be okay." And with that Sirius dissapperated leaving Lily alone with James. She put her hand over his and looked at his face. _He looked so different without his glasses_, thought Lily. She moved part of his dark hair out of his face. She smiled. Even when Lily had been dating James she never realized just how handsome he was until this very moment. She wanted to tell him just how handsome he was and how much she had been thinking about him but she couldn't. The Healers said that he might be able to hear somebody if he was talked to. Lily bit her lip nervously.  
  
"Er, James? It's me Lily. Hi." She scolded herself silently for sounding like she was leaving a message on a muggle answering machine. "I just wanted to tell you how grateful I am that you jumped in front of me at the last minute and how sorry I am that you got hurt so badly." Silent tears started streaming down her face. Lily tried her best to stop them but with no luck. "I just want you to know that I think you look really handsome when you're not being a prick." Lily smiled and laughed softly thinking of how James would respond. Then suddenly she said something she didn't think she would ever utter to James Potter. "I love you." She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek and hugged his lifeless body and let her little tears trickle down his face.  
  
"Lily?" Asked a calming voice from the door. Lily turned around and saw Remus Lupin looking happy. Lily got up from her chair and rushed to the door to hug her old friend that she hadn't seen since Hogwarts.  
  
"Remus, how did you...?" Asked Lily trailing off.  
  
"Sirius. He told me about it the moment he got home and I apperated here as soon as I could. Why didn't you go home too?" Questioned Remus. He moved part of his sandy brown hair out of his eyes.  
  
"I don't want to leave him here." The two friends walked outside of the hospital room and into the hospital hallway.  
  
"I know James. He's going to be okay. He'll pull through. He always does. Remember how many times he got hurt playing Quidditch? Madame Pomfrey was so used to having him in her ward she reserved his favorite bed just for him." Lily laughed recalling the memory. "See?" Said Remus lovingly.  
  
"Let's talk about something more cheerful shall we? How come I haven't seen you since graduation?"  
  
"Been too busy applying for any job I can get. It's hard finding a job with my condition." Said Remus bleakly.  
  
"You'll find something. Don't worry. If James can get into Auror Training then you can surely find yourself a job." Reassured Lily. Then she thought about James. James...  
  
"He's going to be okay" Asked Remus trying his best to calm his friend. "I better go. Full Moon tonight."  
  
"Oh. Well, bye then." Said Lily as she hugged Remus one last time. He walked down the infirmary hallway and went into the lift. Lily was left standing there thinking about her friend Remus. He was so sweet and loving but yet had no one to love him back. Everyone was too taken aback by the fact that once a month he turned into a werewolf. Lily sighed and tried to think of one of her girlfriends that would be good for him. _Hmmmm, Sarah? No. Iona? No, too religious...  
_  
"Lily?" Called a weak voice.  
  
"No, not me." Replied Lily out loud not realizing what she was saying or where the voice had come from. "I'm with Amos, James. James!" Lily rushed into the hospital room and to James's bedside. He was starting to sit up and looked like he was still hurting. She got his glasses from the bedside table and put them on him. He smiled. "Thanks." Lily threw herself on him and started crying. James was surprised at Lily's action and put two comforting hands on her back.  
  
"Why did you do that? You're so stupid, James!" Scolded Lily.  
  
"I didn't want you to get hurt." Said James honestly.  
  
"I treated you like rubbish! Like pure shit and you still have the decency to put your life before mine." Lily picked her head up and looked deep into his hazel eyes. They were gorgeous, just like him. "Thank you." She said softly. James smiled and hugged her tight.  
  
"Anything for you." Said James almost inaudibly but Lily heard. She didn't say anything but he knew that she heard him. They held each other close feeling that if they let go they would never be this happy again. "Where's Sirius? Is he okay?"  
  
"He's fine. He went home about an hour ago."  
  
"Why didn't you go with him?" Asked James curiously.  
  
"I couldn't leave you here like this. I wanted to make sure you were alright." Said Lily wiping a tear from her eye. James wiped the other ones away with his hands. "You scared me James. You really did."  
  
"I'm sorry." Said James honestly.  
  
"Promise me you'll never leave me." Said Lily hugging James. James was taken a back. He had no idea he affected her like this.  
  
"I promise with all my heart. I'll always be here to protect you." For just a few moments, everything was right in the world. Neither James nor Lily, who had both survived an attack by Lord Voldemort himself, could think of anything else but each other.  
  
-----  
  
I finished this chapter finally! I abandoned it for a while but I don't care cuz I wanna get the last few chapters up soon. 


	12. Confessions

This chapter is dedicated to mione-xavier. I've had half of it written for a looong time and I can't wait to finish writing the last chapter!  
  
---------------------  
  
**Confessions**  
  
The next day James was released from St. Mungo's and back to his own flat. Lily spent most of her time at his place taking care of him and basically acting like old friends. The experience they shared brought them closer than they had ever been in their lives and both of them promised that they'd always stay friends. Sirius threw James a Welcome Home party and all of their friends showed up. Even though there were plenty of women around to meet his fancy, he stayed with Lily the whole night.  
  
The next morning James woke up to a knock on his door. He quickly threw on his dressing gown and walked out of his room and into the living room. He looked down and saw Lily Evans fast asleep on his couch. He smiled gently and put another blanket on her. She must've been too tired to go home, thought James. There was another knock on the door and James rushed to open it. "Yes?" He asked nonchalantly rubbing some sleep out of his eyes. He opened them quickly and realized who was standing in front of him. "P-Professor Dumbledore?" Asked James in disbelief. What was his old Headmaster doing at his doorstep at 8 on a Sunday morning?  
  
"Hello James. Would it be alright if I came in?" Asked Dumbledore politely with his blue eyes twinkling.  
  
"Yes of course. Make yourself at home." James said as Dumbledore entered his flat. "Would you like any tea?"  
  
"Yes please." Said Dumbledore making his way into James's messy flat. James entered the kitchen and began heating up the water for the tea. "James, there happens to be someone sleeping on your couch. It looks like a very familiar redhead." James returned to the living room and rushed over to Lily.  
  
"Oh my gosh, I'm sorry Professor. I forgot Lily slept here last night. You see we had a party last night and she was too tired to make it back to her own flat." Said James nervously trying his best to get Lily to wake up.  
  
"Oh no problem. I just wanted to let you know." Said Dumbledore happily.  
  
"Lily? Come on, love, it's time to wake up." Said James rubbing her back trying to get her to wake up.  
  
"Urgh?" Groaned Lily as she opened her eyes. She saw James then shut her eyes again. "No James...let me sleep."  
  
"No! Lily, Professor Dumbledore is here and..." He realized there was no use. Suddenly a thought struck him of how to wake up Lily and get her off of his couch.  
  
"Those are really sexy knickers you have on Evans." Said James. Lily shot up and covered herself in her blankets.  
  
"What?!" She shouted. "How dare you James! What are you doing looking at my knickers?" Questioned Lily. James laughed.  
  
"Knew that would wake you up. Now say hello and goodbye to Professor Dumbledore." Said James helping Lily up. Lily rubbed her eyes.  
  
"James you're insane. Professor Dumbledore isn't here!" Said Lily cheerfully thinking that James was just fooling her.  
  
"Hello Ms. Evans! Lovely morning we're having." Said Dumbledore. Lily stared at the old man in disbelief.  
  
"Oh, er, hello Professor. You know there's a really good reason for all of this." Said Lily blushing. She had never been this embarrassed in her entire life.  
  
"No need to explain. James has already told me. I came here to speak to you two and Sirius. Is he home?" Asked Dumbledore.  
  
"Er, let me go get him." Said James scurrying off to Sirius's room. If anyone thought James's room was messy, they had obviously never seen Sirius's. Clothes were scattered all over the floor and furniture. It seemed like Sirius had never once hung up one article of clothing. James reached Sirius's bed crossing the mountain of rubbish in his way. He shook him furiously.  
  
"Sirius! Sirius wake up!" Sirius groaned.  
  
"What the hell is it Prongs? I was just in the middle of a dream involving two hot nurses. This better be important otherwise for my birthday you're buying me two strippers." Threatened Sirius sitting up.  
  
"Professor Dumbledore is here. He wants to speak with you, me, and Lily." Sirius sat up and sighed.  
  
"Fine. Leave so I can get some clothes on."  
  
"You sleep in the nude? I've never known that." Stated James.  
  
"This is a really lovely time to be having this conversation James. Just brilliant. Now get the fuck out of my room." Ordered Sirius. James obeyed and left. He walked into the living room where Lily was trying to calm her wild bed hair.  
  
"Sirius will be just a moment." Said James as politely as he could. Seconds later Sirius emerged into the living room wearing only a pair of loose fitting sweat pants. His hair was scruffy, more scruffy than usual, and he had not shaved yet.  
  
"Hello Mr. Black. Good to see you. Now that the three of you are here, I'd like to invite you all to become members of the first Order of the Phoenix." The three friends looked at each other.  
  
"Um, sir? What is the Order of the Phoenix? I've never heard of it." Said Lily.  
  
"It's a new secret organization to help the fight against the Dark Arts. I've only just begun recruiting members this week. I've decided to invite you three because after your brilliant performance against Voldemort himself, how could I not?"  
  
"That was just luck sir." Replied James modestly.  
  
"Nonsense! Not any young adult straight from Hogwarts could escape Voldemort and his Death Eaters and live to tell the tale! You have three days to get back to me. Good day." Said Dumbledore as he apperated out of the flat. James, Sirius, and Lily all looked at each other.  
  
"Wow...that's something isn't it?" Asked James.  
  
"Yeah." Replied Lily.  
  
"Well I'm in." Decided Sirius. "How about you two?" James and Lily looked at each other.  
  
"I don't know. What do you think James?" Lily asked wearily turning to James. James was surprised she even wanted to hear his opinion of the issue.  
  
"It seems like a good idea...and I hate the Dark Arts...Plus it'd be good to be able to catch all of those Death Eaters that we met up with the other day..." Started James.  
  
"And kick Malfoy and Snivelly's ass!" Ejaculated Sirius loudly. James grinned.  
  
"I'm in." Said James. "What about you?"  
  
"I'm in too." Said Lily. She looked at James and smiled. He had a slight feeling she was only going to agree if he did and that suited him just fine.  
  
-----------------------  
  
Two days later, James was sitting on the couch in his living room finishing up some paperwork for Auror Training. He, Sirius, and Lily had been excitedly discussing some of their possible assignments in the Order and how demanding they would be. Unfortunately with all of the excitement in the air caused James to slack off from his work at Auror training. He was getting so frustrated with it when Lily walked into the flat and smiled. She looked so beautiful to him. Her hair was tied back in a bun that was messy leaving tendrils shaping the soft white skin of her face. Her lips were rose red matching the red sundress she was wearing underneath a light black sweater.  
  
"Hello James." She said taking off her sweater.  
  
"Hullo Lily." He looked at her once more. She looked like she had something on her mind. "What's wrong?"  
  
"Nothing." She said quickly. "Absolutely nothing at all." She lied. James eyed her and she felt her self tremble. Why was this happening every time he looked at her.  
  
"Come on Lily. I know you." He said calmly. Lily sighed.  
  
"Okay you know how I've been going out with Amos?" James groaned.  
  
"How could I forget?" Asked James rhetorically.  
  
"Don't be like that. Anyways we've been going out a long time, right? I mean a really long time. Longer than when we went out. And tonight, I don't know, I have this stupid feeling that he wants to...you know...do it." Said Lily shyly. James fought hard to resist the urge to scream at her for even thinking of sleeping with that idiot, that moron, Amos Diggory. "Well? What should I do?" Asked Lily.  
  
She sat down next to him on the couch and James sighed. He always thought of Lily losing her virginity to him but now, it seemed impossible. James loved the idea of Lily being so pure and somewhat naïve when it came to sex. "Well, do you really want to know what I think you should do?" Lily nodded. "Think about it."  
  
"I have thought about it. I've thought about it a lot." Said Lily decidedly. James gulped waiting for the inevitable.  
  
"Do you love him?" Asked James wearily. He knew the answer, he just didn't want to hear it from Lily's mouth. Lily nodded.  
  
"Yes, I do love him. A lot." James shook his head. Lily put her hand on his shoulder.  
  
"I know how you feel, James. I know you must feel extremely awkward talking about this with your ex-girlfriend but I think of you like a brother. I love you like a brother." She said confidently hoping it would cheer him up. Then, without James looking at her, he spoke.  
  
"I love you too, only not as a sister." Lily was silent. She didn't know what was coming next. He turned to her and grabbed her hands. The dim light of the moon was shinning in through the windowpanes on the far end of the flat. Sirius was due home for hours but Lily wished that he would come bursting through the door this very moment.  
  
"Lily, I love you."  
  
---------  
  
Muahahhahhaa! Cliffhanger! Read and review please! 


	13. I Move On

There's one song that's almost single handedly responsible for this fanfiction. Its helped me write this thing and inspired me so much. You probably already know the song I'm talking about from the title of this chapter. I knew that I wanted the last chapter to be based around the last few verses of the song because it's my favorite. Every time I here the end of the song I always pay attention and stop what I'm doing. I get into this song so much. Lol I've been annoying the shit out of my mom with it cuz I've been listening to it non stop since August. Hehe. So here's the last chapter. Enjoy.  
  
----------  
  
**I Move On**  
  
"I love you." His words made her entire body go numb. She was left there dumbstruck trying to piece together what had just happened.  
  
"Lily," James grabbed Lily's hands and grasped them firmly, "I love you."  
  
"You...you what?" Lily asked intensively. She couldn't believe her ears. No. He did not just say that to me.  
  
"I love you." Repeated James quietly. He avoided her gaze as he said it not wanting to see the look that was upon her face.  
  
"James...You can't love me! I mean," Lily sat on the couch lost for words. Even though she was surprised, she couldn't help but listen to that little voice in her head that was saying she knew it all along, "I'm with Amos."  
  
"I know but that doesn't change the way I feel about you Lily. I love you. I love everything about you."  
  
"James," she whined laying back down on the couch, "no." She said sounding like she was about to cry. James turned to her looking into her eyes for the first time since he first told her he loved her. Something felt wrong to Lily. Something definitely wasn't right.  
  
James looked pained. He felt his heart rip in two again. It was the same feeling when she broke up with him almost a year ago except this time he loved her and he actually had told her so. He felt like taking his wand and killing himself in the most painful way imaginable. He did the only thing he could. He leaned over and kissed her softly on the lips. It was the first time they had kissed since that drunken night months and months ago.  
  
It was perfect; his lips upon hers. He felt her warmth and felt her shiver slightly. When James finally broke the kiss, Lily sat there looking terribly frightened as if she had just saw a hideous creature. "Tell me you didn't feel anything. Tell me that and I'll let you go." He said softly. Lily paused feeling numb from the kiss she had just received.  
  
"I didn't feel anything." Said Lily numbly. She lied. The truth was that was the most passionate kiss she had ever had the pleasure of having. Even Amos couldn't kiss like that. James hung his head down fighting back tears. "James, are you going to be okay?"  
  
"Just go." Said James in a whisper. Lily walked slowly out of the apartment and leaned her body back on the closed door of James's flat not wanting to leave her friend in this condition. She sighed softly and felt like crying. Never in her entire life had she been that cold to a man...well, besides the time she broke up with James.  
  
"Lily?" Asked Amos apparating at her doorstep a little down the hall. He walked over and kissed her lightly on the cheek. "What's wrong love?" He questioned.  
  
"Nothing." Said Lily. She faked a smile and Amos returned a real one.  
  
"Good. I don't want you being depressed while we're on our date tonight." He offered out his hand and Lily took it. She forced herself not to think of James on her date with Amos and she didn't. She focused on what Amos was saying about his job and what the woman next to him at the Ministry said about the minister's new robes. Lily laughed and giggled at the appropriate times like a good girlfriend would. It wasn't until Amos was walking her up to her apartment did anything happen.  
  
They were laughing casually as they arrived at Lily's door. She smiled and looked her boyfriend in the eye. "Well goodnight." Said Amos as he kissed his girlfriend goodbye. Just as he was about to walk away Lily grabbed his hand.  
  
"Wait, do you want to stay here tonight?" Asked Lily with a devilish smile on her face. Amos's face lit up.  
  
"Yeah, sure! I mean if it's okay with you?" Lily nodded slowly. Amos grinned.  
  
"Excellent." He said quietly. They began kissing passionately right there in the hallway and started moving back into the apartment and into the bedroom. Amos placed each Lily on the bed gently and pulled her shirt over her head. Lily sighed in between kisses. Amos began kissing her sweetly down her neck causing Lily to inhale deeply. He started kneading her breasts in his large, masculine hands. Lily was overcome by pleasure and moaned.  
  
"James." Moaned Lily. Her eyes widened in fear from the name that had just escaped her mouth. Amos stopped kissing her and looked up into her emerald eyes.  
  
"What?!" Amos asked in disbelief. Lily sat up, as did Amos. Again he asked, "What?"  
  
"Amos, I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me its just..." Started Lily, but she couldn't finish her sentence. She was so full different emotions that she didn't know what to say. For one of the first times in her life, she was speechless. "Amos, you're a great guy. You're funny, smart, witty, and handsome... Any woman would love to be with you."  
  
"Does this have anything to do with James?" Inquired Amos.  
  
"How did you know?" Asked Lily curiously.  
  
"For starters, you just moaned his name." Said Amos.  
  
"Oh." Lily chuckled nervously.  
  
"I had a feeling there was something going on with him. I just didn't want to say anything." Said Amos starting to show the anger in his eyes and got out of the bed.  
  
"No, Amos its not like that!" Exclaimed Lily. "I don't know what it is. All of these old feelings for him are surfacing again and I don't know what to do. I didn't mean to say his name before. Honestly." Amos stared down at her and searched her eyes. The gentleness of his eyes came back, not totally, but some of it did return. "I'm sorry." Lily said quietly.  
  
"Its okay." He said just as quiet as Lily had. "I'm going to give you some time to think some things over and if you want to call me, call me. But if you don't, I'll understand." Lily smiled.  
  
"Thanks Amos." She stood up, pulled her discarded shirt back over her head, and gave him a kiss on the cheek. He smiled gently back at her as he left the room and left the apartment. Lily plopped herself on her bed and looked at her bedside drawer then to the door. She smiled softly and knew exactly what to do...  
  
And as for now i'm gonna hear the sadest songs and sit alone and wonder how you're making out. And as for me, i wish that i was anywhere, with anyone, making out.  
  
"Screaming Infidelities" Dashboard Confessional  
  
James was lying on his bed alone. It was almost 11:30 and all he could think about was Lily. He knew that she and Amos must be back at Lily's apartment by now and were doing the inevitable. He sighed with frustration and closed his eyes. A few moments later, there was a knock on the door. Sirius must have forgotten his keys again, thought James. He left his room and entered the living room. He made his way to the door where the person on the other end was still knocking. He opened the door and without even really looking at the person there he said "God damn it Sirius, why the fuck- - Lily?" James blinked. There was Lily Evans standing there at his door beaming and for no apparent reason. "Lily, what are you doing here? I thought that tonight you're were gonna be with Amos?"  
  
"Yeah well there was a little change in plans." Said Lily smirking. James smiled. "You wanna go get a bite to eat?"  
  
"Yeah, sure." He said. "Let me just grab a jacket."  
  
And with that began, what was yet to be, one of the most joyous nights of either of their lives. They sat around and talked. They talked about anything and everything: from Quidditch to the Ministry of Magic, from Auror Training to Hogwarts. They smiled, laughed, and joked. They talked about the good times and the bad times. But the ironic thing was that they didn't argue or have one single row the entire time.  
  
It was the early hours of the morning when James and Lily arrived back at their building. They were smiling and laughing happily. They walked up to Lily's flat and stood in front of the door. "Thank you." Said Lily softly.  
  
"For what?" Replied James.  
  
"For always being there for me when I needed a friend or when I needed someone to talk to. I don't know what I would do without you." Said Lily inching closer and closer to James's face. She put her hands on James's waist and leaned in and kissed him passionately. James kissed back letting all of the tension, all of the problems, and all of the arguments he and Lily had ever had fade away. The only thing he was concerned about was making sure that this moment would never end. Lily broke away first and James stared at her lovingly.  
  
"You'll be the death of me, Evans."  
  
-----------  
  
and the time on the block when we realized it's so late. And the walk that we shared together  
  
The streets were wet And the gate was locked So I jumped it And let you in  
  
And you stood at your door with your hands on my waist and you kissed me like you meant it.  
  
Dashboard Confessional "Hands Down"

------------  
  
The next morning they made if official: After a year of being apart, they were finally back together. But this time instead of James running around telling everyone he knew that he finally got Lily to go out with him, they kept it quiet. So quiet that Sirius didn't even know about it. Two weeks later Lily and James were walking down the hallway to James's apartment. They stopped at the door.  
  
"So I guess this is it then." Said James putting his arms around her waist. "I had a great time." Lily smiled.  
  
"I always have a great time when I'm with you." Replied Lily as she put her arms around her boyfriend's neck. James leaned down and kissed her romantically.  
  
"Mmm, mind if I stay the night?" Asked Lily slyly. James looked at her with amazement in his eyes.  
  
"You mean...?" Trailed James. Lily nodded smiling. He took her by the hand and led her through his flat to his room. Lily shut the door behind them and muttered a silencing charm.  
  
The next morning Lily's eyes fluttered open and looked at James who was already awake looking at her smiling. "Good morning." Said Lily quietly.  
  
"Morning." Said James moving a piece of Lily's red hair out of her face.  
  
"Last night was wonderful." She said happily moving closer to James.  
  
"It was. It was the best night of my entire life." Replied James happily. Lily kissed him softly on the lips. "How do you feel?" Asked James sounding concerned.  
  
"A little sore but alright. What is Sirius going to say when he sees me come out of your bedroom?"  
  
"Who cares what he says." Said James wrapping his arms around his girlfriend. He began kissing her softly down her neck. Lily moaned slightly.  
  
"James! It's morning! We have to get dressed!" Said Lily struggling to free herself from James's strong arms.  
  
"Uh-huh." Said James holding her down more tightly. Lily sighed.  
  
"You're incorrigible."  
  
Fifteen minutes later James and Lily finally emerged out of James's room and walked into the living room. James was wearing a pair of boxer shorts and Lily was wearing one of James's t-shirts that looked 3 sizes too big for her. Sirius was sitting on the couch eating porridge reading the Daily Prophet. "Morning James. Morning Lily...Lily?!" Exclaimed Sirius throwing down the newspaper and glaring at the red head. Lily grinned.  
  
"Morning Sirius." Chirped Lily happily.  
  
"What the bloody hell are you doing here? And in James's shirt! His mother bought that shirt for him!" Shouted Sirius. James wrapped his arm around Lily's waist and Lily cuddled into him lovingly. Sirius observed his friends and realized what had happened.  
  
"How long have you two been dating and how is it that I haven't found out?" Asked Sirius. Lily and James looked at each other and smiled.  
  
------  
  
So that's the end! Hope you all liked it!


End file.
